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Why Machida is NOT Over-Rated
I know there are a lot of people who think Machida is a great fighter.
However, I have seen more threads on how he is going to lose or how he is over-rated; I'm positive this is far from consensus and a lot of people are probably at the Machida war train station thinking of buying a ticket.
Here are 3 reasons to jump aboard.
A Decision Does NOT Mean You Failed
There's a prejudice against decision wins and it goes something like: "If fighter A wins by decision, then he wasn't good enough to finish the fight like the best fighters." The line of reasoning continues, " you put the fight into the hands of the judges where anything can happen." Thats great accept winning a decision implies certain things, many of which make you a more dangerous fighter.
1.) A decision win implies you were not submitted, knocked out, or Out-wrestled. In fact, more often then not, it implies you out controlled your opponent in more of those situations. You took away what your opponent does well, and out performed him to get the decision. A win in the decision column implies a degree of talent and resilience.
2.) A decision win implies that you went 3- 5 rounds and won. This may seem inconsequential to people who have never trained mma or wrestled, however more experienced fans know you have to be prepared to go the distance. It's both a mental "never quit" attitude and a degree of athletic ability. Fighters who can consistently go 3-5 rounds are demonstrating great athleticism.
Winning the close competitive fight says a lot about a fighter.
Machida Has Fought Great Competitors
First of all, we should accept the fact he has fought 11 fights and won 11 times. 3 of which were in the UFC, 1 of those was against Nakamura. There was a time when Nakamura was not considered a can, but that seems like a long time ago. The fact remains he is a winner. A quick look at some of the names: BJ Penn, Rich Franklin, and Stephen Bonnar. Say what you want, but you're only going to sound like an asshole if you think a man who won 11 fights is a fluke, especially when you add those names to the resume. BJ Penn is an amazing fighter and is still on top of many peoples P4P list. Rich Franklin can't beat Anderson Silva so he is exposed as a loser ? Everyone on here thinks Anderson Silva is good because he beat Rich Franklin, so lets not lose perspective. Stephen Bonnar was a TUF 1 veteran who fought an insane fight with Forrest. Jardine and Forrest went on to beat Liddell and Shogun Rua, respectively. Maybe talent is harder to evaluate then we thought.
Machida has the names on his resume and the numbers. 11- 0
He's an Athletic and Intelligent Fighter.
He's a game planner. When you read his interviews, he is always very calculated about what he says and he is willing to utilize "gadget techniques." He borrows freely from wrestling, judo, karate, and aikido. On top of this, he always comes to his fights in great shape. I've never seen this guy show up looking unhealthy, hes got a great physique and just looks like hes ready to fight for an hour. Again, some of this is demonstrated in his decision wins, he takes away the advantages of his opponent and wins a close fight.
Machida over-rated ? How about Under-rated.
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