God Gave Me Style, God Gave Me Grace

There’s little argument that Jon Jones is the most physically gifted fighter to ever compete in the sport of mixed martial arts. His unparalleled athleticism, functional strength and explosive striking have catapulted him to the elite of the UFC’s roster of fighters. The ease of which he is able to perform jaw dropping manoeuvres against opponents to devastating effect has gained him a reputation as one of the most exciting combat athletes on the planet. Jones’s array of spinning elbows, flashy kicks and lengthy punches combined with his skills to dominate many grapplers in their own field have marked Jones out to many as being the future of the sport, from a technical as well as physical perspective. However it is important to mention the genetic gifts that Jones possesses ( i.e coming from a family of professional athletes, having the arm span of a 7 foot tall man at 84.5 inches etc) that have helped to separate Jones even further from his competition.

A lot of people comment on how fast Jones has risen to the top of the sport, but not many realise just how fast it’s actually been. It took Jones just 4 months from turning professional to get his first win inside the UFC. In only 3 years as a professional fighter he obtained the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, in doing so he became the youngest ever fighter to win a UFC championship at the age of 23. In the process he became the only man to ever knockout MMA legend Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, as well as the first person to submit NCAA division 1 wrestler Ryan Bader. Adding to this impressive feat is the fact that in all 15 of Jones’s MMA fights he never been in trouble, dominating in every aspect of his fights.

The one Jones has experienced on his record is nothing more than a fluke. Similar to the loss suffered early in the career of the great Fedor Emelianenko, Jones’s careers only blemish comes from being on the wrong side of a ridiculous ruling.

The controversial defeat came against wrestler Matt Hamill in a fight Jones dominated from start to finish. Before the fight began people were curious to see who would have the wrestling advantage, Jones quickly answered these question slamming Hamill to the canvas from a Greco Roman Clinch. From here Jones quickly gained full mount and began raining devastating elbows towards face of Hamill. While alternating the angles from which he was throwing his strikes from, Jones broke a bizarre bi-law in UFC rulebook that disallowed elbows thrown vertically downwards, an angle referred to as 12-to-6. The referee ruled that Jones should be disqualified, therefore handing him his first defeat of his career. The irony of the situation being that Hamill had dislocated his shoulder from Jones’s takedown, had the fight continued to the end of the round meaning Hamill would have been unable to continue fighting thus awarding a TKO victory to Jones. The rule had been made by a member of the Nevada athletic commission who had witnessed a martial arts shows where someone had broke a block of ice with a 12-to-6 elbow and thus decided they were unsafe for competition.

However, the UFC saw the enormous potential in Jones and would put him in the main events for its first two shows on the American network Versus. In the inaugural event on the channel Jones would take on Brandon Vera, a fighter once subjected to the same hype Jones was currently experiencing. Vera also knew firsthand how quickly fan favour can change when he himself failed to live up to his early career hype. Jones once again managed to effortlessly get his opponent to the ground, once there he was caught with an illegal up kick from Vera, causing a pause in the action while Jones was allowed to gather his wits by the referee. Once the fight was restarted Jones landed a devastating elbow to the face of Vera, shattering his eye socket, a few more punches later and the fight stopped with Jones being awarded victory by knockout.

Jones second fight on the network would last less then two minutes as he took experienced veteran Vladimir Matyushenko. Jones would once against effortlessly out grapple an experienced wrestler, getting Matyushenko on his back and quickly assuming side control. From this position Jones transitioned to what is referred to as the Ivan Salaverry position/mounted crucifix, with Jones being able to trap both Matyushenko’s arms. With his opponent unable to defend his head, Jones landed a quick succession of elbows which caused the referee to stop the fight.

Jones rise through the ranks of the light heavyweight division continued as he took on undefeated ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner, Ryan Bader. While Jones was considered the favourite to win, no one was expecting an easy fight, due largely in part to Bader’s wrestling credentials and knockout power.

Although the fight went longer than Jones previous two fights, he was thoroughly in control for the duration of the bout before locking in a modified guillotine choke to win in the second round. Jones was able to exhibit some extremely unorthodox moves that confused Bader, such as a backwards jump over the head of his crouched opponent to take his back. Moves like this showed the uniqueness in Jones approach to MMA but also a confidence in his own natural abilities.

Following the fight Jones would be informed that his then training partner Rashad Evans would be unable to challenge for the title due to an injury he suffered in training. As a result Jones was offered to take the fight against Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, which was in less than 6 weeks time. For any other fighter this would be a huge ask on such a short notice, but for Jones this was almost six weeks too long. As Jones showed in the fight against Rua that he already had the ability to beat the world’s top light heavyweight.

In the build up to the fight with Shogun, Jones had been rumoured to have been signing photographs for fans as ‘Jon Jones Champion 2011’. a move which had angered Rua who felt slighted by the lack of respect Jones had been showing him. While Shogun would be coming back from a year long hiatus from the sport, the result of an knee injury he picked up winning the title from Lyoto Machida. It is hard to discredit Jones victory as being a matter of good timing due to the ease he was able to pick apart such a experienced fighter.

Many expected Jones’s to cause Shogun problems with his takedowns, few expected him to give Shogun problems on the feet given Shogun‘s Muay Thai pedigree. Furthermore, no-one expected Jones to land a flying knee to Shoguns jaw seconds in to the fight which rocked the champion. In interviews after the fight Shogun credit’s the knee as being pivotal in the proceedings that followed, stating that he was badly rocked by it and never fully recovered.

In the fight Jones would mix together his arsenal of flashy strikes, Greco roman takedowns and elbows on the ground to devastate the tough Brazilian. Shogun valiantly fought on but the result of the contest was never in too much doubt. After Shogun failed to hook in a leg lock at the beginning of the third round, it was the beginning of the end for his reign as title holder. Jones continued to batter Shogun with strikes from inside his guard. Shogun managed to make it back to his feet but was in a very bad condition, he staggered backwards across the ring with Jones stalking him, smelling blood. Finding Shogun with his back pinned to the cage, Jones landed a hard left hook to the body that buckled Rua, catching him with a knee on his way down. The referee waved off the fight seconds before Shogun himself taped on the floor to signal his resignation from the contest and an acknowledgment that he had been defeated. When the newly crowned king of the light heavyweight division was interviewed post fight, his first words were ‘Jon Jones champion 2011’, a cocky reminder of his prophetic boasts before the fight.

Jones would go on to defend his belt against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in a fight he controlled using his extraordinary reach advantage. Keeping the fight at distance Jones was able to avoid the powerful punches of Rampage on the inside. Jones was also instructed by his coach Greg Jackson to throw kicks to the body every time Jackson looked to throw a hook, with the foot landing underneath Rampage‘s punching arm. As a result, Jones was able to nullify the power of Rampage by punishing him every time he looked to get on the inside. After wearing down the former champion Jones was able to secure a rear naked choke in the 4th round to finish the overmatched Rampage.

With that victory Jones became one of only two men to defend the Light Heavyweight Title since Rampage lost it in the summer of 2008 to Forrest Griffin. The other man is none other than Jones’s next opponent, Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida.

The fight this Saturday is intriguing as Machida actually matches up with Jones far better than any of his last opponents. Lyoto possesses great takedown defence as unmatched ability to fight at range. If Jones is unable to take Machida down then he might fight himself getting picked apart by the defensive Brazilian. Also in the fight Jones’s reach may work against him as Machida will be able to cause damage if he can get on the inside. Because of this Jones will prefer to keep the fight on the outside, however this is a risky strategy as Machida is very intelligent at moving in and out of his opponents reach, although it is yet to be seen if he can overcome a  reach a large as Jones.

While striking I fully expect for Jones to utilise kicks to the body similar to Shogun did against Machida. By focusing on the core of Machida rather than his elusive jaw line, Jones will have a higher success rate in landing strikes. Machida prefers to fight on the counter but could be in for a ‘long’ evening (sorry) if Jones can stifle him with singular strikes such as jabs and Muay Thai Teeps.

Both men possess power to end the fight, Jones has a reliance on flashy spin kick and jumping knees but he is most powerful when throwing strikes on the ground. As a result I think his best strategy is to attempt to take Machida down and work from inside his guard. While Machida has great takedown defence and good clinch game, I expect Jones is the better athlete as should be able to get Machida to the ground. If Jones wants to keep the fight at range he will be negating his physical gifts and could see himself in similar situation to Rashad Evans when he fought Machida. Greg Jackson was Evans coach for that fight and he now coaches Jones, surely Jackson would be wise not to make the same mistake again.

Fighters with long reaches don’t respond well to being swarmed on the inside. An notable example of this is six foot eleven world champion K1 fighter Semmy Schilt, who suffered three loses to fellow Dutchman Peter Aerts. These fights were won due to Aerts not being afraid to step through his opponents jab to land his shorter punches on the inside. Jones actually as 1 inch longer reach than Semmy, but doesn’t have the same height and will be easy to hit if he cant establish his range early. Although this gameplan isn’t reminiscent of ones Machida has used in the past it could be used as counter measure should Jones be able to get the better of the fight on the outside should it become a slow paced point fighting contest.

‘And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns’

The quote in the title comes from the ‘Book of Revelations’ in the Bible, an admittedly odd choice to begin a post about Lyoto Machida, an half Brazilian half Japanese MMA fighter. The description was later turned into a series of water colour paintings by the poet William Blake. One painting in particular, ‘The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun’, would in turn be used as the motivation for a fictional serial killer in Thomas Harris novel ‘The Red Dragon’.

The character of Francis Dolarhyde goes on a killing spree in the belief that it will make him more like the dragon in the painting, which he perceives as being as powerful as God. Dolarhyde is very calculating and methodical in his actions, using film from of his victims home videos which acquires through his work as a videotape technician to carefully orchestrate his attacks, he is able to avoid capture by the FBI. While primarily referred to as the ‘tooth fairy’ in the beginning of the novel, he like Machida gives himself the name of ‘The Dragon’.

The link between the two men is perhaps unfair to Machida who seems like generally nice guy, never engaging in trash talking to his opponents and always conducting himself respectfully in victory. However like Dolarhyde the nickname ‘The Dragon’ is best suited not to Machida as person, but perhaps just who he becomes when he is at his most violent. While not considered a power puncher, Machida is responsible for some of the most devastating knockouts in the UFC. From a brutal onslaught of punches used to finish Rashad Evans to capture the UFC Title, or the spectacular flying front kick Lyoto used to retire Randy Couture. A kick that could be seen in the replay sending a tooth flying out of the mouth of Couture, possibly Machida and Dolarhyde could share a another mutual nickname, the ‘tooth fairy’.

However despite these highlight reel finishes Machida is primarily a defensive counter puncher. Fighting from a Southpaw stance, his strongest attribute is highly ability to avoid damage from his opponents. Machida uses a wide variety of feints and misdirection’s to confuse his opposition, landing punches of his own before promptly retreating back to outside his opponents range.

A cautious style that had lead to some fans stating he has a tendency to run from his adversaries during fights. Tito Ortiz could be heard telling his corner in between rounds of his fight that Machida is ‘‘fucking running all the time’’. This reaction was no doubt partly due to the frustration on Ortiz’s behalf as he was being successfully outmanoeuvred and was trailing on points, it gives a good indication to helplessness opponents feel while fighting him. However Stephan Bonnar was more complimentative about Machida‘s style, after suffering a first round TKO loss to Machida early in both men’s careers, he describe the contest being like fighting ‘a ghost’.

Machida is also very unorthodox in the sense that he is reliant on traditional martial arts for his success in mixed martial arts. While he does have the prerequisite of a solid ground game with his BJJ black belt, he is able to use Karate to great success.

The invention of MMA was seen by many as the deathblow for traditional martial arts as they would be shown to be ineffective in an actual fight. However the fighting style titled ‘Machida Karate’ taught by Lyoto’s father Shotokan karate master Yoshizo Machida was developed for real life combat. While most Karate schools teach with the aim of preparing students for Karate tournaments, with rules like no punching to the head, Machida Karate is altered to have more effect in a MMA contest. Yoshizo Machida’s transition of the martial art is similar in it’s ideology to Helio Gracie’s development of Brazilian Jujitsu from the traditional Japanese form.

Machida is also a great grappler and has terrific takedown defence, this is in part down to Machida’s Sumo training, he even successfully took part in Sumo Competitions, proving that other martial arts can be used successfully in MMA if they are correctly integrated into the existing essentials skills of a MMA fighter. Due to this Machida’s difference in style provides a great contrast to the existing fighter clichés as the wrestler/boxer from America or the Muay Thai/BJJ fighter from Brazil.

Lyoto Machida’s arrival in the UFC was far from awe inspiring, his first three fights were all slow paced unanimous victories in which he used his defensive point fighting style, which he had mastered in years of karate tournaments, to safely guide himself to gaining the judges decision. It wasn’t until he stopped the rapid rise of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in the second round of their fight by arm triangle choke that he began to gain recognition in the division. Sokoudjou was fresh of first round knockout victories over highly ranked Brazilians Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona and was making his debut in the UFC. He was seen as a dangerous opponent for Machida, yet it was Lyoto who controlled the pace of the fight, reversing the Cameroonians judo throws with sweeps the second they hit the mat and countering his strikes with brilliantly timed trips.

Machida’s next fight would be against the UFC superstar Tito Ortiz. Machida would be selected to face Ortiz by UFC president Dana White, as it would be the last fight on Tito’s contract and after long running feud between the two men White wanted an opponent that would give Ortiz no chance of a farewell victory. The fight would see Machida expertly control the pace while avoiding takedowns from Ortiz, who was growing frustrated by his inability to connect with punches on Machida. In the third round Lyoto dropped Ortiz with a knee to the body and followed his opponent to ground in an attempt to finish the fight. Ortiz then managed to catch Machida in a deep triangle choke, which Machida somehow managed to escape from before the fight ended, with Machida being awarded an unanimous decision victory.

Machida’s next fight would be against aggressive Brazilian Brawler Thiago Silva, who like Machida sported an undefeated 13-0 record at the time. Silva’s aggressiveness would play perfectly into Machida counter striking style. The performance by Lyoto could be deemed a work of art, as he was able to repeatedly drop Silva with well timed attacks, all the while avoiding the power of his fellow Brazilian. Thiago relentless pushed the pace forward putting himself further and further into danger from Machida’s Counters. With Ten seconds left in the first round both men found themselves pressed against the cage wall, from here Machida was able to trip Thiago before landing a finishing blow to the jaw of his downed opponent, seconds before the bell sounded to end the round. It would be Machida’s first knockout win in the UFC and one that would, due to fortunate fight cancellations, lead him to a shot at the Rashad Evans Light Heavyweight title.

Evans had rose to prominence in the UFC with his two knockouts of fan favourites Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. The latter earned him the title and his first defence was supposed to be against Rampage Jackson at UFC 100. However the fight was traded with Brock Lesnar v Frank Mir to UFC 98 due to a minor injury to Mir. With Rampage being unable to fight on such short notice, Machida was given the opportunity to fight for the title, an opportunity he would capitalise on.

Both Machida and Evans were undefeated going into UFC 98 and it was unclear what type of fight to expect going in. Despite recent success on the feet Evans was primarily a wrestler, would he try to knock out Machida or take him down to ground where he would be unable to employ his effective footwork. Evan’s coach Greg Jackson is seen by many as to being the best strategist in the sport, people felt he would be the man to develop a gameplan to solve the enigma of Machida. Instead it would be one of Jackson’s biggest tactical disasters, as Evans attempted to stay on the outside and try and play Machida’s point fighting against him, with the hopes of landing a big knockout punch. The gameplan resulted in a second round knockout with Evans losing his belt after being repeatedly dropped and then finished with a multitude of punches from the Challenger.

Sadly, Machida’s reign as champion wouldn’t last long either, as he came across his first Challenge to his new belt, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. The first fight at UFC 104 would be subject to vast controversy as Machida was awarded an unanimous decision victory following five rounds of action. While the fight was a lot closer than many people like to remember it, Shogun was able to frequently land heavy kicks to the body and legs of Machida, noticeably slowing down Lyoto in the later rounds. Machida would counter each kick with a straight left to the head of Shogun, who was keeping a tight guard.

Here in lies the controversy in the scoring, with neither man able to get the knockout, what causes more damage a kick to the legs or punch to the face? the judges opted with the punch and awarded the victory to Machida. While shogun clearly took the last two rounds the first three are open to debate, a lot of people only remember the attacks of shogun choosing to look past moments of success for Machida, such as rocking Rua in third. The controversy would also lead to people critiquing the judging criteria for UFC fights, Machida had successfully defended every takedown attempted by Shogun, as a result you would have to say Machida won the ‘effective grappling’ element of the fight, but what importance does that play in a fight that was mainly striking? It certainly shouldn’t be weighted the same.

Shogun would be granted a rematch at UFC 113, the fight was highly anticipated due the controversial scoring of the first fight. The previous encounter was the first time Machida had been made to look mortal, despite this he still the bookie’s favourite to retain his crown as many expected he would make the necessary alterations to his style to be able to defend more successfully against Shogun’s Muay Thai.

The fight saw a much more aggressive Machida attempt to push the pace against Shogun frequently throwing knees and scoring takedowns. However the new aggression saw Machida’s defence compromised, as he was found repeatedly flat footed when Shogun attacked which saw him take more punches to the head then usual. Seconds after landing a hard knee to the body of Shogun, Machida was tricked by a dummy leg kick which attempted to counter with a straight left which left him exposed to an overhand right by Shogun which clipped him on the side of the head, dropping him to the floor. From there Shogun’s killer instinct, the best in the sport, took control as he landed straight into full mount and threw a series of devastating punches to finish the fight.

The aura of Lyoto Machida had been shattered in brutal fashion, what was once proclaimed the ‘Machida Era’ by commentator Joe Rogan had lasted barely two fights. The once unbeatable monster had been usurped violently. The first fight against Shogun had turned public opinion against Machida, and the second had seemed to validate it. The idea Machida being this mighty Dragon who would dominate MMA for years to come had been crushed. Very few people entertain the opinion that Shogun was just a bad match up for Machida. Shogun’s ability to fire powerful kicks to body of Machida, while possessing a strong chin to be able to walk through Lyoto’s counters proved to be deadly combination. Any fighter who is reliant primarily on their kickboxing is going to be prone to suffer the odd knockout defeat, take a look at any successful K1 fighter and they have no doubt been knocked out at some point in their career. There are just too many variables to consider in the stand up department, which is why a more measured approach such as that of Georges St. Pierre leads to more long term success as champion. Anderson Silva has stayed Champion for long time while primarily being a kick boxer but hasn’t fought any fighter as dynamic as Machida or Shogun on the feet.

Machida would attempt to get his career back on track against the heavy hitting Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Machida could be seen to be very timid in the opening rounds, no doubt influenced by his knockout defeat to Shogun. The first two rounds had very little action with both fighters doing enough to take a round a piece. However Lyoto Machida looked more like his old self in the final round, rocking ‘Rampage’ with strikes and then controlling him on the ground. This time however Machida was on the wrong end of a bad judges decision that saw Jackson awarded a split decision victory, no doubt heavily influenced by the caution Machida showed in the first two rounds.

Machida would rebound from these consecutive losses with a vintage performance against an 46 year old Randy Couture. It was already decided by the Couture that he would retire from the sport win or lose after having a long successful career capturing world titles at two different weight classes. Couture had always mentioned in interviews that he wanted to take on Machida to see if his Greco Roman wrestling could be successful against Machida’s defensive counter fighting style. However it would not be the triumphant send off Couture had hoped for as he was unable to use his effective clinch game in the opening round and found himself unable to close the distance against Machida’s elusive footwork. The second round saw Machida bring the fight to a close with a sensational right footed front kick that instantly knocked out Couture.

As fate would have it, once again Machida now finds himself awarded a title shot due to the cancellations of other fights. This time he takes on the current big thing Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, who like Machida previously, is seen by many to be unbeatable. Also Once again Machida fins himself trying to take the title of a Greg Jackson trained fighter, will Jackson repent from his tactical error in their first meeting? Look for a future instalment of this blog where I detail the rise of Jon Jones as well as break down the stylistic elements of the match up between the two.