James Gallagher (7-0) made short work of Chinzo Machida (5-3) at Bellator 180. Gallagher immediately took to the center of the cage. He didn’t engage in striking right away. Machida stuffed a takedown. Gallagher landed for the first strike of the fight. Machida landed a punch of his own before being taken down. Gallagher landed […]
James Gallagher (7-0) made short work of Chinzo Machida (5-3) at Bellator 180. Gallagher immediately took to the center of the cage. He didn’t engage in striking right away. Machida stuffed a takedown. Gallagher landed for the first strike of the fight. Machida landed a punch of his own before being taken down. Gallagher landed […]
Chinzo Machida has confidence that his level of experience will provide a significant edge against James Gallagher. The two will compete on the Bellator 180 card this Saturday night (June 24) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. Gallagher is a rising featherweight prospect, while Machida has been a prize fighter since 2005 despite […]
Chinzo Machida has confidence that his level of experience will provide a significant edge against James Gallagher. The two will compete on the Bellator 180 card this Saturday night (June 24) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. Gallagher is a rising featherweight prospect, while Machida has been a prize fighter since 2005 despite […]
Chinzo Machida has confidence that his level of experience will provide a significant edge against James Gallagher. The two will compete on the Bellator 180 card this Saturday night (June 24) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. Gallagher is a rising featherweight prospect, while Machida has been a prize fighter since 2005 despite […]
Chinzo Machida has confidence that his level of experience will provide a significant edge against James Gallagher. The two will compete on the Bellator 180 card this Saturday night (June 24) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. Gallagher is a rising featherweight prospect, while Machida has been a prize fighter since 2005 despite […]
It’s getting to be something when the most anticipated mixed martial arts card of the week is a Bellator event. It’s saying even more when there is a UFC just the very next day. Times are changing indeed and while Bellator has put on fight cards before, the level of competition on Bellator 180 is truly impressive. While I won’t cover every single bout on the fight card, one of the more intriguing match ups pits Conor McGregor’s protege James Gallagher against veteran karate fighter and MMA convert Chinzo Machida.
It’s getting to be something when the most anticipated mixed martial arts card of the week is a Bellator event. It’s saying even more when there is a UFC just the very next day. Times are changing indeed and while Bellator has put on fight cards before, the level of competition on Bellator 180 is truly impressive. While I won’t cover every single bout on the fight card, one of the more intriguing match ups pits Conor McGregor’s protege James Gallagher against veteran karate fighter and MMA convert Chinzo Machida.
As far as overall style goes, James Gallagher is a grappler through and through. While he may try to fool some people into believing he’s the second coming of Conor McGregor, Gallagher has already shown that he striking may be competent, even fluid and sharp, but the ground is where his strengths lie. Now, that’s not to suggest that Gallagher can’t strike at all, but his striking is purely meat and potatoes with jab set ups into power shots.
In this fight he’s going to want to take things to the ground or at least threaten. While his striking is certainly competent on the feet, Gallagher would be foolish to take away his biggest strength which is his awesome Brazilian jiujitsu skills. Gallagher is good at maintaining the center which he’ll want to continue to do in this fight. He should keep a good karate bounce to really mask his movement, through feints, and most of all be unafraid to throw kicks. If he slips on a kick and brings Machida into his guard, opportunities to sweep and get on top will fall right into his lap. How he’ll have to initiate shot attempts when he gets Machida to the fence, using his bread and butter jab to get in good position to hit a double leg takedown.
Chinzo Machida may have had a late start in MMA yet he still appears to be very fresh. In terms of his form and approach, there aren’t a great deal of high level karate fighters who have the kind of experience in timing and distancing that Machida has. Unlike his brother Lyoto who is far more focused on countering, Chinzo Machida is more aggressive in his attack. That doesn’t mean he attacks constantly, but likes to play the aggressive counter fighter, attacking his opponent which forces them to counter moving them right into Machida’s own counter. Machida should also look to kick from the southpaw stance in this fight. Gallagher keeps his hands extremely high so a fake left straight into a left body kick could fold Gallagher in half.
It’s obvious that Gallagher will want to take Machida down at some point just as it’s obvious that Chinzo will want to keep the fight standing. In order to stay upright Machida will have to be constant moving target. Gallagher will want to pressure him against the fence, control center, and enter into range behind his jab as well as leg kicks. Machida is comfortable fighting on the outside but taking the center from time to time is highly advised as well as throwing a ton of feints to freeze the younger man. With Gallagher properly frozen a fake jab/front hand parry can set up a great cross or uppercut.
It’s an interesting fight as we’ll get to see two men who like to strike using traditional arts, but at the end of the day this is still clearly a striker versus grappler match up. Who you got?
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
Bellator’s President Scott Coker has announced the price fans will need to pay for their second-ever pay-per-view (PPV) event. Coker announced on The MMA Hour on Monday that the event at New York’s Madison Square Garden will cost $49.95 for fans who want to watch the action from home: “The pay-per-view, just so you know, is $49.95,” […]
Bellator’s President Scott Coker has announced the price fans will need to pay for their second-ever pay-per-view (PPV) event. Coker announced on The MMA Hour on Monday that the event at New York’s Madison Square Garden will cost $49.95 for fans who want to watch the action from home: “The pay-per-view, just so you know, is $49.95,” […]
Last night (Jan. 21) Chinzo Machida competed at Bellator 170 inside The Forum in Inglewood, California. Machida went head-to-head with Jamar Ocampo. Machida was able to rally in the final round and knocked Ocampo out with a thunderous right hand shot.
While Machida is glad to pick up the victory, he knows there is room for refinement (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I think I need to improve a little bit, the takedown defense and the ground work for sure. But at the same time, I’m proud of me because I fought almost three rounds. I’m so happy, but at the same time, I know I have to work a little bit more on the takedown and on the ground, as well.”
Chinzo’s younger brother Lyoto Machida is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title holder. The Bellator featherweight said his brother gave him some advice after the fight.
“(Lyoto) was happy, but he said that even on the stand-up technique, I was too anxious to finish the fight. So I have to keep more calm and get a good timing and a good distance. Because sometimes I took a good shot (to him), but I wanted to finish the fight at the moment, and the guy took me down.”
One benefit Machida has is an honest corner. Instead of telling their fighter what he wants to hear, Machida’s coaches and teammates told him he was losing the fight heading into the final frame. Machida believes he knows why he was down on points before scoring the knockout.
“My corner told me I was losing, because at the end of the first round, and at the end of the second round, my opponent was on top and I was on the bottom. I think I was losing the fight, so for that reason, to the end I was looking for the knockout.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb9UJ9AwMYM&t
Last night (Jan. 21) Chinzo Machida competed at Bellator 170 inside The Forum in Inglewood, California. Machida went head-to-head with Jamar Ocampo. Machida was able to rally in the final round and knocked Ocampo out with a thunderous right hand shot.
While Machida is glad to pick up the victory, he knows there is room for refinement (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I think I need to improve a little bit, the takedown defense and the ground work for sure. But at the same time, I’m proud of me because I fought almost three rounds. I’m so happy, but at the same time, I know I have to work a little bit more on the takedown and on the ground, as well.”
Chinzo’s younger brother Lyoto Machida is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title holder. The Bellator featherweight said his brother gave him some advice after the fight.
“(Lyoto) was happy, but he said that even on the stand-up technique, I was too anxious to finish the fight. So I have to keep more calm and get a good timing and a good distance. Because sometimes I took a good shot (to him), but I wanted to finish the fight at the moment, and the guy took me down.”
One benefit Machida has is an honest corner. Instead of telling their fighter what he wants to hear, Machida’s coaches and teammates told him he was losing the fight heading into the final frame. Machida believes he knows why he was down on points before scoring the knockout.
“My corner told me I was losing, because at the end of the first round, and at the end of the second round, my opponent was on top and I was on the bottom. I think I was losing the fight, so for that reason, to the end I was looking for the knockout.”
