Shotokan karate instructors around the world arose as one to celebrate Lyoto Machida's one sided second round KO over UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.

Machida's unique style utterly baffled Evans who was left swinging at phantoms and eating blows from unexpected directions.

In a deliberately paced match, Machida was the first to score in the first round with high leg kicks from the outside before dropping him with a right hand. Evans survived the round but Machida's corner correctly assessed the situation, telling their fighter to keep doing what he was doing.

In the second frame, Machida blocked a high kick from Evans and scored with a flurry of damaging punches led by a straight left. A stunned Evans managed to get back to his feet, avoiding much damage on the ground, but it was over quickly after that. Machida continued to relentlessly assault the champion, battering him with hooks and straights, finally finishing with a short, sharp straight left hand that sent Rashad Evans slumping to the ground.

Machida's unconventional karate style has proven to be an insolvable riddle for all of his opponents to date. It remains to be seen if former champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will have an answer.

There has not been a been only one successful defense of the UFC 205lb belt since Jackson upset long-time champ Chuck Liddell and subsequently defended it against Dan Henderson. Many believe that Machida has the formidable skill-set to be the dominant champion the division has awaited.

Machida's mystique as a Brazilian practitioner of an arcane Japanese traditional martial-arts tradition reminds some of  original UFC star Royce Gracie. Like Gracie, Machida learned his art from his father and both fathers had adapted their style to compensate for physical limitations. In Helio Gracie's case it was his sickly frame and lack of brute strength that led him to develop a heavily leverage based jiu jitsu style. In Yoshizo Machida's case, his lack of height led him to develop an unusual approach to footwork that allowed him to move in and out against taller opponents.