Many people will point to the co-main event of UFC on Fox, Rua vs. Vera, as the most intriguing fight of the night, and I cannot fault those opinions.
From a competition standpoint, this fight will probably be a little more competitive than the main event. Bader is a power wrestler coming off the biggest win of his career against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Machida is a former champion who has only won one of his last four fights.
The game plan for Machida is simple. “The Dragon” must keep the fight standing if he wishes to defeat the former Arizona State wrestler.
Machida‘s karate style has shown him to be elusive in the past. He is extremely accurate and powerful, when he does engage with his opponent.
Machida is going to need to create distance, so that Bader‘s takedowns are hard to come by. When Bader does rush in for a takedown, Machida is going to need to fight them off and leave the contact with strikes. These counter strikes could be what potentially ends the fight, as Bader will look to bring the fight to the mat early and often.
Machida will likely stay away from clinching as well, as it could turn into a takedown for Bader. Machida has solid knees when close, but again distance is going to be key for the karate master.
Of course, Machida‘s bull rushes will be another key in him taking this fight. For the most part, Machida moves around and counterstrike until he sees a great opportunity.
From there, Machida will push forward throwing bevies of strikes. We saw it in the Jon Jones fight and even more successfully in the Rashad Evans fight.
So again, the key here is creating distance, fending off takedowns, counterstriking and mixing in his trademark bull rushes. If he is able to stay off his back and do these things, Machida will win this fight easily.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com