The UFC 140 open workouts were held this afternoon at Extreme Couture in Etobicoke with headline fighters Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz, Frank Mir and The Nogueria brothers. The workouts were open to the media and the public and a couple hundred fans and media packed the state of the art facility.
Lyoto Machida was the first to enter the gym and take the mat where he hit the pads, did a light shadow box and performed a short kata for the fans (Please see the video for up-close footage of Machida’s kata and comments).
This is Machida’s second consecutive fight in Toronto after he fought and knocked out legend Randy Couture at UFC 129 in April. Couture was clearly the fan favorite in that matchup and Machida is hoping things are different this time around.
“That victory and that fight was very important for me because I have a lot of respect for Randy Couture and to come up here to a place where Randy Couture has a lot of fans it was much different because I’m not used to having most of the fans on my opponent’s side,” Machida stated through his interpreter.
“But I want the fans to understand I am a professional, I respect Randy a lot and hopefully this time around I would be glad to accept the fans on my side,” he laughed.
It is tough to be the man to send a beloved legend so violently into retirement, but the perfectly executed crane kick brought on a karate revival in the minds and hearts of many, bringing up memories of the 80s classic flick The Karate Kid.
That revival must have had something to do with Machida getting a title shot in his next fight—something he was not really expecting.
“To be honest with you it was a big surprise because of the way that things were working out with the contenders and the fighters and also Jon Jones having the title and will be fighting now four times and that’s a lot for a guy to be fighting in a year so it’s definitely a big surprise.”It’s also pretty clear that Machida did feel a bit worried after he turned down the Rashad Evans fight.
“Also with me not taking that fight and all those different things that were going around so I’m very happy. I feel I am in a much more mature stage in my life, I am more experienced now.
I’ve experienced what it’s like to be a champion, I’ve experienced what it’s like to lose, I’ve experienced what it’s like to be knocked out, and I’ve experienced what it’s like to come back and have a big win. I just feel as a fighter and a man I’m more mature and more prepared than I was last year.”
I can’t wait to see if he is prepared enough to handle Jon Jones.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.
Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.
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