(5 Gifs) UFC 104: Machida's Kicks and (Bad?) Corner Advice/Strategy
by TLow on May 3, 2010 1:06 AM EDT
Email
PrintMost of the talk surrounding UFC 104 was over the effectiveness of Shogun's leg kicks against Machida's overhand counters, with people divided on both sides of the question. Machida seemed to be hunting for the counter, and was at least partly stymied by Shogun's range, keeping him at bay.
What's more interesting though is the advice given to Machida between rounds 4 and 5. "Don't kick too much, don't kick too much" his corner told him, which seemed very strange advice to me when I watched it, and still seems strange now. During Round 4 Lyoto landed what was arguably the best strike of the fight at 3:08, a head kick to Shogun. Despite this, his corner told him not to throw more, instead they continued to hope he'd "find Shoguns's timing." But it wasn't the only kick he landed during the fight. GIFS below.
Anyway, Machida's body kicking proved pretty effective throughout the fight. Also solid were his knees to the body (same one he dropped Tito Ortiz with), though his corner didn't mention anything about the knees, so whether they were part of the gameplan I'm not sure.
(And a note: Adam Vance totally beat me to this post, but I think there's a little bit of difference, so I'm posting it anyway. I already had the gifs all done up and everything! Though I'm not including the head kick GIF, because he already covered that one.)
Here's him in Round 1, landing his first real body shot of the night.
This one doesn't land as strong as some of the others, but you can see something from the way Lyoto holds himself. His balance remains almost perfectly centred. Theoretically in Shotokan Karate all kicks are supposed to "uncommitted"- in other words, even if the guy moves and you completely miss, you can snap back on the kick (also hugely emphasised) and not lose balance or position. In other words, the kicks you see sometimes where the fighter misses and does a full 360 aren't supposed to happen (rua does one at 3.45 of round 3). The efficacy over this can be debated, and many people hold Muay Thai kicks are more powerful perhaps as a result, but it's worth looking at.
Here's another one, from Round (I forget which round).
Originally my prediction for this fight had been Lyoto by LHK KO (yes, I am a fan) because I thought Lyoto was "due" for a head kick knockout- he'd landed some good ones on Ortiz and Sokoudjou, and Rua had shown a tendency to drop his hands a bit in his UFC fights, so I thought there was a solid chance. What you see here is Shogun is obviously thinking about the high kick as well and goes to cover his head, leaving him open for the body kick. What you also see is just how good his reflexes are- as soon as he knows he's getting kicked to the body he fires back a leg kick.
On to the next one, from 2.03 of Round 2
This is my favourite kick of the fight, and it's an absolute beauty. In Shotokan Karate basics the way to throw a roundhouse kick or mawashi geri is to pick the hip up and turn the knee sideways (imagine the front snap kick action, except your leg is turned 90 degrees), turn the support foot 90 degrees and then launch the kick. My sensei used to say you should imagine picking up your leg like you were throwing it over the seat of a bicycle. It creates quite a bit of power, but it's tough to do because its a few different things at once, and even in karate kumite, the action is rarely done as laboriously (you see a kind of typically "shortened" version of the move in gif2). But here Lyoto lands an almost picture perfect Karate mawashi geri kick, and its his hardest body kick of the fight by far, and maybe even the hardest body kick landed by either guy. Once again Rua picks up his left hand to block the head kick and takes it to the body instead.
Another very nice example below- not as technically perfect but he manages the crucial heel turn action, and once again it lands because Rua is covering the head:
Here's another one, but this one is more of the MT style, in that its a more direct trajectory to the body with minimal support heel movement, rather than the two stage mawashi geri, and in this one the hip does not rise as much. Once again Rua's reflexes are there, although I don't think that counter has a hell of a lot on it.
So a few thoughts. i thought Machida's body kicks were actually highly effective throughout the fight- my advice to Lyoto, instead of "don't kick too much" would actually be "kick more!"
So why did Lyoto's corner tell him not to kick so much? It may have been concern over the the take down and Rua's wicked ground game, but he managed to stuff him a few times, and I think it's a pretty acceptable risk. I think they went in with the strategy of playing a minimal risk game until Rua slipped up (hell, it had worked before) but I don't think telling him to stop doing something that was clearly working is a good idea.
Lastly, upon rewatching this fight I realised just what an amazing fight it was. It's something that was maybe marred by the controversy over judging and commentary (I originally joined BE to bitch about the commentary, all I can say is the 24 hour delay is a smart idea) but I think this one should be viewed as an all-time classic. Two top level strikers landing some vicious shots throughout the fight- a cagey, intense high level struggle between two styles. This is what they dreamed of with the original UFC, and I think after UFC 113 settles this one, it'll be nice to appreciate the fight for the classic that it is rather than all the bullshit around it.
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
19 comments
|
7 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
im a huge machida fan also, and like many I thought he lost this fight. I know it was a close battle, I would like to see some gifs of shoguns highlights but I lack the technical savvy to do it myself.
i dont think it was a question of takedowns, shogun was timing counters to machida’s kicks very well. you mentioned you didnt think the counters had a lot on them, i disagree… look at how machida’s foot violently pivots back on impact.
his corner realized shoguns strategy of working the legs, and wanted to slow down the accumulation of leg kick damage. i think this is intelligent advice, you can really see how much he slowed down in the championship rounds really because of the leg kicks
I agree, Shogun’s counters to the plant leg under Machida’s body kicks were really taking their toll, and I didn’t see Machida’s body kicks having a huge effect on Shogun. I thought Machida should have thrown more LOW kicks, to prevent the under-kick counter and take away Shogun’s base a little.
PS Shogun’s kick here was easily the hardest body kick of the night.
It’s a little bit hard to tell, because of hte angle of Machida’s kick. Certainly both are close, but I’m not sure you’re right here. Shogun is leaping here, whereas Machida has a foot planted and achieves a fuller articulation on his kick. Either one is pretty vicious though.
By the way I saw your earlier breakdown, and it’s a thing of beauty. Only thing I’d say is that Machida circling to his left, as Machida does, lets him keep his back leg as his left leg, which is HIS power leg, as evidenced by these gifs. So its kind of a Catch 22 for Machida whichever way he circles.
I think that Straight left by Machida was pretty damn hard as well. Shogun jumped right into it while he was throwing that kick. Some say that the kick stopped the momentum of the punch. Look closely and you see the punch land first Shogun’s body abruptly stops and straightens up in reaction to the punch more so then his leg stopping his momentum when it lands to the body.
it’s basically just a poorly thrown jumping knee: his foot isn’t planted, and it really connects with a shin that didn’t even get any extension or follow through on it.
everything dana white says is a complete lie
by slantedwindows on May 3, 2010 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Nice job. I think the 2nd kick landed the hardest. This was probably the best fight from a technical perspective the UFC has put on. I like Shogun in the rematch cause I dont think Machida can really do much different in the rematch and I think Shogun probably has better training partners ( and cardio).
Shogun probably has better training partners
Better training partners than the likes Anderson Silva , Junior Dos Santos and The Brothers Nog?
No but Lyoto doesn’t actually train with those guys that often. Blackhouse is more of a place that Soares’ guys can train if they want to than an MMA laboratory featuring MMAs best.
How did I end up on this bandwagon and why does everything say property of Chael Sonnen?
I recall that
Lyoto’s camp/team is essentially Eduardo Bastos for strength & cardio, his immediate family, and local fighters/trainers… which, compared to Greg Jackson’s or TriStar, might be considered “nobodies from bumfuckville.” No wonder Thiago Silva (with American Top Team) was pissed about the loss!
I think the misconception is kinda like how Shogun’s image is “Chute Boxe” even though he and Wanderlei both left to found their own respective schools.
It looks like Shogun blocked the body kick you were talking about in the 3rd gif. I slowed one of mine down and here’s what it looked like.
Shogun is hunched over most of the fight, even more so than a lot of other thai fighters we see in MMA. That’s why I am hoping Machida goes for more head kicks this time, had Machida thrown a head kick there, Shogun would have leaned right into it. Kind of like in round 4.
In terms of the poll, I’m not sure how to answer. I DO think that Machida should throw more head kicks, but they are very difficult to land and we don’t know what Shogun might countered with had Machida been throwing them consistently. As for the body kicks, anytime Machida threw one, Shogun invariably answered with a leg kick.
A lot of Machida’s kicks were with the ball of his foot, aiming for Shogun’s liver. They definitely did their share of damage, they just didn’t leave the big bruises that Shogun’s kicks to ribs did.
Kind of curious how a guy who had no doubts that he had just won the LHW championship and supposedly took no damage is in agonizing pain after getting lifted off the ground by one of his corner men.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
MMA Rankings
