UFC on FOX 4 – Lyoto Machida admits Ryan Bader is dangerous on the ground but doesn’t think he’s an expert
Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida has been giving his thoughts on his UFC on FOX 4 showdown with Ryan Bader set for August 4th in Los Angeles, California, explaining the powerhouse wrestler is no doubt dangerous on the ground but doesn’t see him as an expert in that area.
Speaking via Tatame Magazine, Machida said:
“I was thinking about half on the United States, at Black House, and half in Brazil. Since he’s a wrestler, I guess it’s important to go over there and learn some things and I guess it’ll help me a lot. I’m bringing Wrestling coaches to help me out. Of course I thought about training to defend myself from his game. My goal is to strengthen my Wrestling so I can play my game easily.”
“We trained together once at TUF’s house when Minotauro was a coach there. We trained together and we got to know each other, but it was only one day. As a person, he’s very cool, a strong fighter, he has heart. At striking he’s been getting better and he’s a great wrestler. I don’t see him as a ground expert, but of course he’s dangerous.”
On the possibility of him dropping to middleweight at some point after recent comments made to the press, Machida added:
“See, I said that because I want to stay active. If there’s no fight for me in this division I can drop. Of course I’m friends of Anderson, who’s the champion there and I respect him, I want him to remain as the champion, but it doesn’t stand in the way of me fighting there, maybe a challenge, something like he’s done on my weight class.”
Machida will be looking to recapture the kind of form that saw him win the title back in 2009 and looked unstoppable in doing so. He has lost three of his last four bouts to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Jon Jones. His only win was over Randy Couture. Stay tuned to MMABay for more build-up to this one as we get it.
By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)
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