Yoshizo Machida Says Lyoto Machida Should Retire

Wait….wut.

Maybe he knows something we don’t. /x files theme song

Wow, Yoshizo Machida is a troll.

When Lyoto was winning, he was the best fighter ever. One loss and he should retire.

Lame!

He doesn’t really say Lyoto should retire. On the contrary, he says the following:

“As a parent, I think he just realized his dream that was to be the world champion and it would be good for him to stop. On the other hand, after being defeated, it becomes more challenging and therefore he wants to prove even more.”

So it sounds more like an illustration of the dichotomy that exists in a parent/coach – as a parent, he doesn’t like to see his son Lyoto struggle and fail. On the other hand, in the spirit of competition, he’d like to see the fighter Lyoto overcome the challenges of losing to become a better fighter and person.

but saying that he should retire is kinda dumb.. i understand him wanting to protect his son but he could easily get the title back and wreck people.

They never have approved of MMA. Because they always value the discipline, spiritual and artistic aspect 1st, and the long held belief that Martial Art is intended for purely defensive physical use, and never to intentionally inflict pain or harm to an attacker. I think this comes through in this interview and he is treading lightly on the hard line traditionalist stance because Lyoto is involved in MMA.

I don’t think he’s saying that Machida should really retire as much as he’s trying to say that his son should be happy with his accomplishments. No real father, especially the Elder Machida, would really admit that he gives up on his son or doesn’t believe in him. What he’s talking about is Lyoto’s struggle to deal with defeat. It’s something that every fighter must deal with, and, as a father, Yoshizo probably knows his son’s tendancies when dealing with his own failures. Defeat in the Japanese culture can be worse than death. That’s a tremendous amount of pressure. May be this is just an indication of Lyoto’s frame of mind when confronted with it. He may walk away. But who knows? Maybe this is just another instance where the old man is saying, “This is what I think, but prove me wrong.” Let’s hope it’s the latter.

Dealing with and getting past the loss for starters, but the simple fact that the vast majority of upper-tier LHWs are, I don’t want to say scared, but are unwilling to face him. Of course, it is with good reason.

Machida will have a difficult time overcoming Rua, but the rest of the top LHWs will continue to duck him.

Neither Rampage nor Rashad want him, the only ones I think who might be willing are the young, unbeaten up-and-comers like Jon Jones or Bader.

Personally, I would like to see Little Nog – Machida next…