Lyoto Machida | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

UFC 140: Why Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida Could Make for a Boring Fight

With the countdown to UFC 140 winding down to just a few days, the television promo for Saturday’s championship fight runs more frequently to build up an event that is centered around the motto of “Art comes alive.”There’s no denying that both Lyoto Ma…

There’s no denying that both Lyoto Machida and Jon Jones are two of the most technically sound fighters in the Light Heavyweight division; but sometimes technique can make for boring fights. Only true MMA fans will appreciate the type of precise striking and defensive maneuvers that will take place between Machida and Jones. However, if you’re the type of fan that enjoys an all-out brawl with a big knockout ending, then you may want to hold off on forking over those $65 to watch it at home.

Flying knees, spinning back-elbows and wild kicks are just a few of the mind-blowing moves Jones possesses in his arsenal. But until now, he’s faced opponents who enjoy standing toe-to-toe and banging out victories. The concept of beating Jones to the punch is an unimaginable feat considering he has the longest reach in the UFC at 84.5 inches. Which is why all of his opponents have failed miserably with their aggressive nature.

Machida presents a completely different game plan that no other fighter is capable of mimicking. For years many fighters were unable to find a way to defeat Machida when he was on his way to winning the Light Heavyweight championship. Like Jones, Machida’s masterful technique and quickness present a number of problems for aggressive opponents.

So why do these two skillful fighters make for a dull fight?

A lot of defense is going to be played here on the part of Machida. The karate fighter’s style employs swift in-and-out attacks and lots of moving around the cage. This is no knock to Machida as a fighter; but that evasive style will make Jones just look average in the cage.

Jones will probably do a lot striking from the outside and use leg kicks to wear down Machida’s movement. Also, Jones may be a little more reserved when it comes to unleashing his wild kicks and aerial attacks, because Machida thrives on missed opportunities. One mistake by Jones and he may be on the other end of a flurry.

I truly hope I’m wrong and that Saturday’s championship fight will be filled with fast-paced action and a possible finish. But history has shown that the majority of Machida’s fights go the distance; and on the four occasions he’s finished fights, it’s because his opponents either made a mistake or were too aggressive with their attacks thus subjecting them to his style of fighting.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Gallery: 14 GIFs of Lyoto Machida Being Awesome

(Once again, “elusive” trumps “explosive.” Lots more giffy goodness after the jump.)

Unlike our previous GIF galleries, this one will not feature any shuffling or bumping bitches out of the way. Instead, we’ve got 14 examples of Lyoto Machida in the cage doing what he does best — beating his opponents to the punch and foot-sweeping them into a living death. The question is: Will any of it work against Jon Jones at UFC 140 this Saturday?

(Once again, “elusive” trumps “explosive.” Lots more giffy goodness after the jump.)

Lyoto Machida is Juan Manuel Marquez, Jon Jones is Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida’s counter-striking acumen will be tested against the nonpareil talent of light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones this coming Saturday night in UFC 140. (Comparing our top combatants with those of …

Machida the challenger is considered as one of the best—if not the best—counter-strikers in MMA today, just like, well, boxing’s current world lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez. Also going in his favor is his much-publicised training camp under the Freddie Roach of MMA: Crane-Kick Aikido (patent pending) Master Steven Seagal.

Marquez is most famous for his effective counter-punching through Manny Pacquiao’s fistic whirlwinds in their historic boxing trilogy. The first resulted in a draw, the second and third engagements both decision losses to Pacquiao (regardless of what Marquez and a number of boxing aficionados consistently felt and still feel to the contrary).

The champion Jones, on the other hand, exudes the indomitability of arguably boxing’s No.1 pound-for-pound (again) Floyd Mayweather, Jr. And like Floyd’s versus Marquez, Jones enjoys the advantage in height and reach.

The only major difference—aside from these athletes’ respective combative sports and skill sets—is that Jones lets his fighting do most of the talking. It’s also a no-brainer on who’s class and who’s crass.

In comparing Machida and Jones, both fighters have extraordinary fighter’s instinct and timing. Both are consummately methodical in mincing their opponents.

They also share an eerie similarity in “fight face.” Sporting a countenance defined by a cold, unblinking stare that forebodes inevitable destruction of their unlucky prey.

Well, if looks alone could win fights, then expect a draw on this Saturday’s main event.

The questions lingering heavily in the minds of UFC fans.

Can Machida counter Jones’s unpredictable striking offense and efficiently land his own bombs?

Will The Dragon’s respectable takedown defense suffice to intercept Bones’s wrestling projectiles?

Does Machida have another surprise attack up his sleeve? Courtesy of Señor Risen-from-Half-Past-Dead?

And the winner is…

Unfortunately for Machida, Jones will see and thwart what Rashad Evans and Randy Couture didn’t see coming.

Catching up with the Jones is an exercise in futility. He’ll be the one to catch Machida again and again till the stoppage.

Worst for Machida is that the youthful champion not only posseses the skill akin to Mayweather—he’s also shown the KO power of a Pacquiao.

And for the unbigoted amongst us who cared to watch and see who prevailed on 09-19-09, we know who between Marquez and Mayweather had more reason to party till the wee hours of the 10th.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 140: Fight Card, Live Streaming, PPV Info, Predictions and More

This is another show in which Rashad Evans doesn’t get to fight Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. That will make it two tries at fighting for the belt and two fights that just didn’t happen. While Lyoto Machida is a wort…

While Lyoto Machida is a worthy opponent for Jones, this was Evans’ shot at glory. The UFC 140 card is stacked, so we should be in for a wild ride Saturday night.

Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

When: Saturday, December 10, 9:00 p.m. ET

Watch: Facebook under-card fights at 6 p.m. EST, preliminary fights at 7 p.m. EST on Ion TV, Main Card fights at 9 p.m. EST on pay-per-view; online pay-per-view streaming (must pay $44.99) at UFC.tv, Yahoo! Sports, UStream, Android or iPhone

Fight Card:

Main card

Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Jon Jones (c) vs. Lyoto Machida

Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira

Welterweight bout: Claude Patrick vs. Brian Ebersole

Featherweight bout: Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung

Preliminary card (Ion Television)

Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Igor Pokrajac

Middleweight bout: Jared Hamman vs. Constantinos Philippou

Lightweight bout: John Makdessi vs. Dennis Hallman

Bantamweight bout: Yves Jabouin vs. Walel Watson

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Lightweight bout: Canada Mark Bocek vs. United States Nik Lentz

Welterweight bout: United States Rich Attonito vs. United States Jake Hecht

Lightweight bout: Canada Mitch Clarke vs. United States John Cholish

Jon Jones’ Keys to Victory

Machida has the kicks and punches to KO Jones at any second, so it’s Bones’ job to pick him up and slam him. If he can’t tap the Brazilian fighter out, he needs to finish him on the ground by dropping elbows and fists.

Jones has to win this fight on the ground.

Lyoto Machida’s Keys to Victory

Machida can win this fight if two things happen: He stays off his back, and he can keep Jones far enough away that his takedowns can be blocked. While Jones has great striking, Machida is the more dangerous of the duo at throwing hands and feet.

What They’re Saying

Machida told Tatame.com about his idea of what could happen during the fight and the strategy he will deploy:

It’s hard to predict how things will go on during the fight, but we trained a lot offensive wrestling, me taking him down. Besides the takedown defenses, we trained counterattacks with the takedowns, so if I take him down, it won’t be a surprise for me, for my team, because we know what we’ve been doing here. Our greatest goal is to win the fight, in any area it takes place, no matter if it’s on the stand-up, the wrestling or on the ground. I want to have an advantage in all areas

Undercard Fight To Watch: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Igor Pokrajac

This match could be the biggest war of the entire night. Both men are in amazing shape and could fight 10 rounds if necessary, but the problem is that they will not go that long.

With both men having the power to knock the other out, this could turn into two men at the center of the Octagon throwing haymakers.

Main Event Prediction: Jon Jones via KO in First Round

The young star has the world by the throat right now, but he may be facing the most dangerous person possible with Lyoto Machida. While Machida isn’t an overpowering beast like some fighters, his patient strategy and versatility make him one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC.

Jones can and will win if he can control the tempo of this fight and control where it takes place with plenty of takedowns and pounding on the ground.

Check back for more on Mixed Martial Arts as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s UFC Page to get your fill of all things UFC/MMA. For more on MMA/UFC, check out Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics.

Follow @Donald_Wood

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 140: Predictions for Submission, Knockout and Fight of the Night

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones may go down as the year’s best fighter, but he will have one more test before the year’s end coming in the form of former champion Lyoto Machida. They will meet at UFC 140 on Saturday at the Air Canada…

Jones’ victories include those over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton Jackson and Ryan Bader. Machida enters the fight having only won one of his last three bouts, but that win came over Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture in spectacular fashion.

In the co-main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will take on former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the second time. Mir defeated Nogueira at UFC 92.

These are my predictions for submission, knockout and fight of the night.

Submission of the Night: Jung Chan-Sung

There is only one way to top off winning Submission of the Year, and Jung Chan-Sung (11-3) will look to get another highlight-reel finish when he faces former title challenger Mark Hominick (20-9) in an anticipated featherweight bout on the main card.

Jung was last seen submitting Leonard Garcia with the first-ever twister submission in the UFC. It won him the Submission of the Year award at the 2011 MMA awards.

If Hominick’s last fight was of any indication, it’s not worth it to stand and try to knock him out. His heart will constantly keep him in the fight no matter how much punishment he takes over the course of the fight. He also has superior stand-up skills to Jung.

Look for Jung to take this fight to the mat after some early exchanges and try to work for a submission. Hominick hasn’t always had the best submission defense, and five of his nine losses have come in that fashion.

This fight easily has the makings to win one of the three bonuses.

Knockout of the Night: John Makdessi

John Makdessi (9-0) is one of the UFC’s most exciting and promising prospects, and he will get the chance to prove it when he faces MMA veteran Dennis Hallman (50-14-2) on the preliminary card of UFC 140.

Makdessi was last seen knocking out Kyle Watson with a spinning back-fist in front of 55,000 hometown fans at UFC 129. He will get the chance to do that once again in front of a smaller crowd, but a hometown crowd nonetheless.

Hallman will be dropping from welterweight to lightweight so it will be interesting to see how the weight cut affects his cardio late in the fight if it goes there.

Makdessi is a relatively undersized opponent, but knows what it means to entertain the crowd. His stand-up technique and kickboxing features a wide array of kicks, and one of them could be the last thing Hallman sees before getting knocked out late in this fight.

Fight of the Night: Jared Hamman vs. Constantinos Philippou

In a preliminary bout set to air on Ion Television, middleweights Jared Hamman (13-3) and Constantinos Philippou (8-2) will look to take a step up in the division and earn another UFC victory.

After a somewhat disappointing win over Jorge Rivera at UFC 133, Philippou should be motivated to put on a show against Hamman, who has won two previous Fight of the Night bonuses and is coming off a very exciting fight versus C.B. Dollaway. Philippou is 1-1 in the UFC with his only loss coming against Nick Catone.

Hamman made his middleweight debut against Dollaway and survived early barrages to come back and stop “The Doberman” in the second round. His toughness is one of his biggest assets, and it is easily making him one of the fan-favorite fighters in the division.

This should be a war no matter which way it goes.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jon Jones Embraces His Role as UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ahead of UFC 140

Jon Jones is feeling pretty comfortable at the top of the 205-pound division. The 24-year-old Jones, who recently won the light heavyweight crown earlier this year at UFC 128, is set to make his second title defense this weekend when he stands acr…

Jon Jones is feeling pretty comfortable at the top of the 205-pound division.

The 24-year-old Jones, who recently won the light heavyweight crown earlier this year at UFC 128, is set to make his second title defense this weekend when he stands across one of the more difficult opponents of his career in Lyoto Machida.

Jones only made his debut three years prior, and now sees himself sitting atop the light heavyweight division. The quick transition from prospect to superstar would overwhelm most UFC fighters, but not “Bones.”

Jones told MMAWeekly.com that while some fighters force themselves to do media appearances, he said he embraces the opportunity and is more than willing to promote himself.

“I absolutely embrace the role,” Jones said. “I can’t do that refusing to do interviews, refusing to show up here, refusing to show up there. I get out there and get my face out there, I get my personality out there.”

Since Jones snatched the title out of the hands of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, there has been a considerable amount of exposure surrounding him; it’s one of the main priorities as champion. And as champion, Jones only hopes to improve his image among the media and become a role model for younger viewers or other aspiring mixed martial artists.

And while appearing in the public eye, Jones said staying true to himself is all that matters.

“It’s important to always be yourself and always put your best foot forward,” he said. “It’s just something that I’m aware of, the importance of being myself in the most positive way.”

Jones added that while the media can be distracting, he keeps an open mind and doesn’t pay attention to it. Ultimately, the outcome of the bout is most important to him.

“It really doesn’t matter what I do before the fight, as long as my mind is in the right place, I’ll be fine,” he added.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com