We heard it from Machida’s own mouth.
“The Dragon is back.”
Lyoto Machida looked like the fighter who dominated the UFC’s light heavyweight division a few years ago, when he soundly defeated Ryan Bader in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 4.
Taking virtually no damage and frustrating his opponent, Machida used his karate to jump in and out of Bader’s range to win nearly every exchange.
Prior to getting knocked out by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 113, Machida was thought to be nearly unbeatable, picking apart everyone the UFC decided to put in front of him.
Back then, Machida was known for sitting on the outside and waiting for his opponent to make the first move and landing a heavy counterstrike soon after.
His dominant wins over Tito Ortiz and Thiago Silva solidified his status as a top contender, and “The Dragon” made the most of his first UFC title opportunity when he defeated Rashad Evans to win the belt at UFC 98.
But consecutive tough fights against Rua seemed to change Machida, who soon after lost a close decision to Rampage Jackson due to Jackson’s aggression.
As a result, Machida came out much more aggressive in his next few bouts and got caught by Jon Jones in his title fight because of it.
Tonight, as soon as Machida stepped back and beautifully countered Bader’s superman punch with a right hand that landed flush on the chin, it became obvious that Machida was back to his old self.
Looking a lot like his training partner Anderson Silva at times, Machida showed off some impressive head movement and dropped his hands multiple times, showing little to no regard for his opponent’s striking.
Instead of staying inside Bader’s range, like he did against his previous opponent in Jon Jones, Machida waited on the outside of the pocket, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he pounced.
Machida gave Jon Jones more problems than anyone else in Jones’ career thus far, and if he gets a chance to fight Jones again, it could be very interesting.
If Machida is patient enough to wait outside of Jones’ long reach, he could force the champion to make a mistake when Jones tries to push the action.
Stylistically, Machida poses the most problems for Jones, and if the same “Dragon” that fought tonight shows up against “Bones,” we could see Jones in trouble for the first time in his UFC career.
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