Tag: Lyoto Machida

Brazilian Karate Coach Says Machida’s Crane Kick Is "Most Difficult to Land"

Since his highlight reel knockout victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129, Lyoto Machida has been dubbed the “Karate Kid.” The Brazilian’s style is so unique and complex, as he combines different styles into his arsenal, along with his elusive speed and …

Since his highlight reel knockout victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129, Lyoto Machida has been dubbed the “Karate Kid.”

The Brazilian’s style is so unique and complex, as he combines different styles into his arsenal, along with his elusive speed and footwork, including Shotokan karate, Sumo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.

To put into perspective just how lethal Machida’s flying crane kick was, look no further than former Brazilian karate coach, Geraldo de Paula, who said that the kick Machida used is very hard to land.

“That was a perfect move. For those who know karate well, it is the most difficult attack to land. For those who know less, it’s fatal. Nobody is expecting a front kick like that, a front punch is more common,” de Paula said to UOL Esportes, courtesy of FightersOnlyMagazine.

“The most common kick is mae geri, when one of the feet doesn’t leave the floor, as Anderson Silva did versus Vitor Belfort [at UFC 126]. Lyoto made a more complex kick, mae tabi geri, taking both feet from the floor with a mid-jump,” he explained.  

He went on to explain the intent of the kick is not to attack the face of an opponent, or knock them out. 

“As we don’t look for the knockout in tournaments, but points for landing hits on the rivals, it is more used to hit the abdomen. For karate practitioners the most common head attack is circular kicks.”

The mae tabi geri is practiced in all martial arts, but it is mostly utilized in Shotokan karate. 

Machida, who was accompanied to the Octagon by his family and actor Steven Seagal, credited both his father and Seagal for helping him perfect the kick. 

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Lyoto Machida Says He "Felt More Aggressive" Against Randy Couture at UFC 129

Lyoto Machida silenced his detractors and reentered himself into the title picture following his knockout of Randy Couture at UFC 129. Machida, who was on a two-fight losing streak, attempted a flying crane kick that landed precisely on his oppone…

Lyoto Machida silenced his detractors and reentered himself into the title picture following his knockout of Randy Couture at UFC 129. 

Machida, who was on a two-fight losing streak, attempted a flying crane kick that landed precisely on his opponent’s chin, dropping him in the process. It’s a win he desperately needed and a win he credited to his training regiment. 

“I increased my training, demanding more from my sparrings, and I felt comfortable in every single situation,” Machida explained to TATAME.com following his victory. 

Machida continued saying he focused more on his karate and implemented different training techniques and a nutrition plan in order to prepare for the light heavyweight bout. And while he did change a few things during his training camp, “The Dragon” said he stuck to his roots that helped him become UFC light heavyweight champion not too long ago. 

“I felt myself more aggressive… I kept my style, but with an upgrade,” Machida said. 

He credits the upgrade to his father, Yoshizo Machida and actor / martial artist, Steven Seagal, who helped Machida perfect his flying crane kick, ultimately earning “Knockout of the Night” honours.

“When I started my preparation, after I did a hernia surgery, I couldn’t do everything in training, so my father told me to train three or four types of kicks and use them in sparring, but very carefully, because they hurt a lot, it’s like the elbow. When I came to Canada I met Steven Seagal, and he told “Lyoto, this kick will hit”. But I wasn’t worried to use it or not, I’d do it if the opportunity came. I came more relaxed to the second round and hit that.”

The highlight reel knockout has drawn comparisons to friend and teammate, Anderson Silva, who also landed a front kick that knocked out his opponent, Vitor Belfort at UFC 126. 

And now that Machida has regained his form after picking up the win, there have been fans demanding Machida take on newly crowned champion, Jon Jones as there are some who believe Machida’s style could potentially pose problems for the 23 year old. 

But for now, Machida is content to wait and see the division work itself out and look to inch closer to title bout one fight at a time. 

“I don’t think too much far away, I take step by step. I know every fight is important to become better. I don’t have that pressure to become the champion again. I’ll get that chance,” Machida said.

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Lyoto Machida Demonstrates Front Kick Two Years Before Using It at UFC 129

Another Black House fighter, another front-kick knockout victory and another claim by Steven Seagal that he trained that fighter on that particular kick.At UFC 129, Lyoto Machida used a front kick to knockout out Randy Couture that was very reminiscent…

Another Black House fighter, another front-kick knockout victory and another claim by Steven Seagal that he trained that fighter on that particular kick.

At UFC 129, Lyoto Machida used a front kick to knockout out Randy Couture that was very reminiscent of the kick that Anderson Silva used to put away Vitor Belfort at UFC 126.

If you recall, in postfight interviews, Steven Seagal was more than happy to take credit for showing Silva that kick.

After Machida’s victory on Saturday, Seagal spoke to Inside MMA, again taking credit for the knockout kick.

“It’s a little variation (on the Silva kick), I’ve been working with Lyoto very, very hard on a lot of different stuff. He did exactly what we’ve been working on and he did it well,” Seagal said.

The good folks over at MiddleEasy.com have uncovered a video that was uploaded to YouTube back in November of 2009 that shows Machida in a training video demonstrating the kick that he used to KO Couture.

Interesting stuff.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Steven Seagal ‘Amazingly Proud’ of Lyoto Machida for Front Kick

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TORONTO — MMA Fighting caught up with Master Steven Seagal following UFC 129 to talk to him about Lyoto Machida‘s spectacular front kick knockout of Randy Couture. This marks the second time in over two months that a fight ends due the kick (Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126) and the second time a fighter credits Seagal for teaching him the kick.

Seagal also addressed the critics who claim he is taking credit for a kick he didn’t invent.

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TORONTO — MMA Fighting caught up with Master Steven Seagal following UFC 129 to talk to him about Lyoto Machida‘s spectacular front kick knockout of Randy Couture. This marks the second time in over two months that a fight ends due the kick (Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126) and the second time a fighter credits Seagal for teaching him the kick.

Seagal also addressed the critics who claim he is taking credit for a kick he didn’t invent.

Falling Action: Best and Worst of UFC 129

Filed under: UFCFor those of us who tuned in all the way from the Facebook prelims to the Spike prelims to the pay-per-view card, UFC 129 made for a long and sometimes repetitive night.

There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. A good knockout…

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For those of us who tuned in all the way from the Facebook prelims to the Spike prelims to the pay-per-view card, UFC 129 made for a long and sometimes repetitive night.

There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. A good knockout is still a good knockout the second (and third) time you see it, just like ‘UFC Central’ is still an ‘MMA Live’ rip-off whether you’re watching on a laptop or a TV. But am I alone in feeling just a tad overwhelmed by it all?

When you attend a live UFC event, it’s a full evening’s worth of entertainment to begin with. But when you sit through it all from home and still end up rewatching several of those fights again later in the night, at some point they all blur together in the mind. Granted, the UFC can’t assume that its entire audience is hardcore enough to tune in early, but at a certain point it becomes difficult to keep straight who did what to who, and when. Or maybe I’m just easily confused.

Now that we’ve all had a while to digest and decompress Saturday night’s action, let’s look at the big winners, losers, and everything in between after UFC 129.

Randy Couture Calls It Quits After Knockout Loss, Ending Legendary Career

Filed under: UFC, NewsTORONTO — The end doesn’t always come gracefully, even for heroes. Randy Couture is and will forever be one of mixed martial arts’ seminal early figures, its building blocks. Fifty years from now, when we have better perspective,…

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Randy Couture gets knocked out by Lyota Machida at UFC 129.TORONTO — The end doesn’t always come gracefully, even for heroes. Randy Couture is and will forever be one of mixed martial arts’ seminal early figures, its building blocks. Fifty years from now, when we have better perspective, maybe we can write a fair and true portrait of his importance, but it’s fair to say it was massive.

“The Natural’s” era, though, is now over. Years after most pro athletes retire, Couture was still competing, excelling in a young man’s game, but no more. His epic run came to a definitive close on Saturday night, overshadowing everything in its path, including UFC 129, the 55,724 filling the Rogers Centre in the biggest MMA show in North American history, as well as Georges St. Pierre‘s sixth consecutive title defense. It ended with the legend going out on his shield.