UFC on FOX 4 – Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader preview
‘UFC on FOX 4′ lands this Saturday, August 4th as the UFC heads to Los Angeles, California and as usual, MMABay is at hand to preview the main card action set for the Staples Center this weekend. This time, we turn our attention to the light-heavyweight co-main event that sees former champion, Lyoto Machida, take on powerhouse wrestler Ryan Bader as two of the division’s top dogs go at it for a potential title shot. Will the karate stylist prove too elusive for ‘Darth’ or will Bader slay ‘The Dragon’ in the City of Angels? Find out after the jump…
Lyoto Machida (17-3, 9-3 UFC)
Former UFC light-heavyweight champion, Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida, started his UFC career with a staggering eight-fight win streak that saw the third dan karate black-belt take out the likes of Tito Ortiz and Sokoudjou before he knocked out champion, Rashad Evans, at UFC 98. It was said to be the dawn of ‘The Machida Era’, but the Brazilian has only mustered a 2-3 Octagon record since those fateful words were uttered by Joe Rogan.
After defending his title at UFC 104 in a five-round battle with Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Machida was swiftly knocked out by ‘Shogun’ when he was granted an instant rematch at UFC 113 and was then unfortunate to drop a debatable split decision to Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 123.
‘The Dragon’ shook off the cobwebs at UFC 129 when a front-kick to the face of legend Randy Couture not only got him back in the win column but won the Brazilian ‘Knockout of the Year’ honours to boot. It was also enough to see Machida handed a shot at UFC light-heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, at UFC 140 in December.
The Black House fighter started brightly, giving the unstoppable Jones a few testing moments in round one but ‘Bones’ quickly took over in the second, choking Machida unconscious with a brutal standing guillotine choke. Despite coming off a loss, Machida could find himself facing off with Jones again if he wins impressively this weekend but the stand-up maestro faces a much different threat in Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader.
Ryan Bader (14-2, 7-2 UFC)
After winning season eight of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ in dominant fashion, Ryan Bader was considered the premier 205lb prospect around and did his reputation no harm by quickly gathering a 5-0 UFC record. That run saw ‘Darth’ knock out Keith Jardine and dominate Antonio Rogerio Noguiera to a decision, a path leading to a showdown with fellow surging prospect, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones at UFC 126.
The hype-train stopped there for Bader who had nothing for the future champion and was submitted in the second round with a guillotine choke. If that was a disappointment for the former NCAA division one wrestler, worse was to come.
At UFC 132 last July, a perhaps over-confident Bader faced fading UFC legend, Tito Ortiz and was promptly dropped and snagged in another guillotine choke, tapping out just 1:56 into the very first round and becoming Ortiz’s first victory in six years.
The Arizona resident bounced back solidly though, knocking out veteran Jason Brilz with a punch early in round one at UFC 139 before the heavy-handed wrestler travelled to Japan in February to face former champion and PRIDE legend, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Despite being a heavy underdog, Bader stuck to a wrestle-heavy game-plan and took a well-deserved decision to put himself back in the 205lb top ten.
The Verdict: With several promising light-heavyweight prospects needing a signature win to break into the title picture, it’s down to the main event and the co-main to produce the next challenger at 205lbs. Machida may well revert to a more conservative game-plan, similar to that of his early UFC fights, in the wake of being scarily finished last time out but even then, ‘The Dragon’ holds all the aces.
Bader, while being a great MMA wrestler, will struggle to consistently take down and control Machida given his sumo base – better fighters have tried and failed. ‘Darth’ is also rather flat-footed and one-dimensional standing, relying mainly on his right hand and brute strength, attributes that won’t do much for him against the extremely technical and elusive karate fighter.
Whenever the two trade, Machida should land two or three shots to Bader’s one and has the luxury of knockout power in his legs to give Bader more food for thought. Bader’s best chance to is turn the fight into a clinch-fest against the cage and occasionally change levels to try and ground Machida, but this will become tougher with each round. A few stuffed takedowns and some clinical counter-striking should be enough to get ‘The Dragon’ the nod from the judges, but perhaps not enough for the big prize. Machida, decision.
By Steve Davies.
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