Lyoto Machida Talks Shogun, Gracie, Lesnar, 'Ultimate Fighter' and More

Lyoto Machida isn't just the light heavyweight champion of the UFC. He's also one of the smartest students of martial arts in the world, and the above interview with Sherdog shows just how much thought he puts into his sport. Some highlights below.

On his dream of becoming a UFC champion:
"When I was 15 years old I watched Royce Gracie in the cage and I thought I'd like to do the same thing. Now I'm very, very happy because I've got the belt and I've become the champion."

On his fighting style:
"Machida Karate is for real combat. Other karate may be not for real combat because there are many rules for the competition, and a lot of the rules aren't good for real combat -- you can't do some takedowns, you can't finish the fight on the ground. Machida Karate is very different. You can take down, you can punch on the ground, you can finish the fight on the ground, you can use the elbow, you can use the knee. In other karate, you can't use that in competition."

On his UFC 104 fight with Shogun Rua:
"Shogun was a champion in Pride in Japan, but now is a different time. We're going to fight in the cage in the UFC. I'm the champion, Shogun is the challenger. Shogun is great, but I have confidence."

On UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar:
"My focus right now is in my class, not heavyweights. But in the future I'd like to do a couple fights like Brock Lesnar. I respect Brock Lesnar as a fighter but I know that I can fight him. Brock Lesnar is a big challenge for me because he's a big guy: very, very srong, very, very powerful, very, very fast. I like the challenge. Brock Lesnar, for me, would be a very good fight."

On The Ultimate Fighter:
"My boss is Dana White and the Fertitta brothers. They can decide everything. But I"m trying to improve my English because I'd like to do the reality show next time."

On his dream UFC card in Brazil:
Lyoto Machida vs. Rampage Jackson
Shogun Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira vs. Bock Lesnar
Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort
Anderson Silva vs. Fedor Emelianenko

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-16-2009 @ 2:19PM

hsiunnu said...

Lesnar? Really?? I mean, I can't stand Lesnar, but can you say "30 second annihilation?" Machida can tout the "humility" factor all he wants in traditional MA in perfect traditional passive-aggressive style, but if he's believing his own hype to the point that he thinks he can call out Lesnar, well... Of course putting his bud Anderson Silva on the dream card against Fedor is just as baffling--except that Silva might be believing his own hype too much too. But hey, even Royce had to eventually face a Matt Hughes.

10-16-2009 @ 3:06PM

Piker32 said...

True. Both silvas would lose.
True
Go Phenom!!!!

10-16-2009 @ 6:28PM

skywalker said...

I agree that Lesnar would probably beat Machida BUT if Machida could find some way to keep the fight off the ground, which he definitely has the ability to do, I believe he could pick Lesnar apart. Machida's elusiveness is a skill that many fighters only wish to have. However, when you are dealing with a 50-60 pound weight difference, elusiveness can only take you so far.

I think the best match up would be to put Fedor against Machida. I do believe that Anderson would pose a threat standing up against Fedor, but once the fight went to the ground, it would be game-over.

10-16-2009 @ 8:36PM

adam said...

fedor is a animal with his ground game and hands speed,,rogers is in trouble,,,,,,, i like lesner and think he is going to beat carwin in the second round by ground and pound but both of those guys are a joke in comparison ,they are new to the world.,,,not fedor,,,, ,i say machida would beat lesner after he makes him run around the ring for 4 rounds then sends him home on a strecher ,and silva would beat fedor basicly doing the same thing but picking him apart for a while till fedor got really mad and starts trying to hard and gets caught with some nasty acrobats,,,,,,arlovski was beating fedor in the stand up game and had him with a few nice combos ,till he ran into his fist with all the speed he had ,,ouch,,, ,remember they are only human and all it takes is 1 clean shot and it does not matter who it is ,,,machida has the skill and power to stop anyone ,and silva is very allusive with power and a ground game,he trains with heavy wheights both nog brothers , jr desantos and a host of other big guys ,,,nogiera never looked so good his last fight with randy and nog went toe to toe with fedor for a loss a while back ,,now i think nog would also beat fedor ,machida walking around is about 225 and silva is about 210,,,,,,,,,,,,its only my oppinion on whats going on so dont hate me

10-17-2009 @ 11:29AM

Bigs said...

No, Machida CAN'T keep Lesnar off of him. Neither can Silva. The only shot either of them had is if Brock lost a considerable amount of muscle. The dude is a beast. Freakish quickness for his size in MMA. In football, that's normal, but this aint football. If Lesnar can even grab a hold of Machida, it's over. People forget how big Frank Mir is. Mir wouldn't move. Machida would be booed for ''running'' away throughout the whole fight. His only way of winning would be a decision but you can't stop wrestlers of this level from taking you down with the combined size and speed. Machida thinks a little too much of himself. Neither him or Anderson will be as fast as other smaller heavyweights since they aren't used to fighting there

10-17-2009 @ 12:26PM

richardbikle said...

this guys joking right?

theres no one in mma that can stop lesnars takedowns, and i really dont see anyone sweeping or scrambling out from underneath him, carwin included. remember, this guy was a division 1 ncaa national champion... division 1. i think fedor could submit him, but i dont see him getting out from under him.
vitor and shogun are going to be the next champions in mw and lhw. vitor is going to beat anderson silva and shogun is going to beat machida.

10-18-2009 @ 6:20AM

Micheal said...

i don't have any hype behind me that i can refer to but still ... i can relate to what lyoto's saying 'cause i'd fight lesnar too, for free, no media, in my basement - just to see if he's really as strong as everyone says he is and to see if he can kick my ass (he probably can't) - i think anyone who's a fighter wants to see how good they really are. like i said: in my drive, for free, today, right now.