Lyoto Machida brining back ol' school Martial Arts to MMA

In a game that has gravitated towards the striking arts of boxing and Muay Thai for striking, it's amazing that Lyoto Machida has established himself as one of the top fighters at 205 by staying true to his roots--Shotokan Karate. Along with his brothers and father, who is a Shotokan master from Japan, Machida has successfully adapted the Karate to MMA and created Machida Martial Arts Karate. It's nice to see someone from a traditional martial arts background bring a samurai type mentality to the cage and do so well. Machida brings a lot of class to the Octagon and has been able to take advantage of the fact that so many people have dismissed Karate as an effective style of combat for MMA. His stance is confusing and frustrating for opponents, his method of attack is very unorthodox compared to the Thai boxers and traditional western boxers MMA fighters are accustomed to training with. That along with some great talent, mental toughness and clarity, along with crafty gameplanning has catapulted Machida to the top of the UFC light-heavyweight heap. He is one win away from fulfilling at decade and a half long dream, but standing in his way is Rashad Evans.

This will be a fantastic fight that is hard to call. Evans has great takedowns but Machida is very elusive, and Rashad also enjoys duking it out with fighters on the feet, even if they KO artists like Chuck Liddell or even if they are outstriking him like Forrest Griffin was. He can take a punch and deliver some real hard ones as well. Can he deal with the juggernaut that is Machida though? We'll have to wait and see. Both fighters are undefeated and there isn't even a blemish of a draw on Machida's resume. This in May at UFC 98 will be a real tactical and close fight. I'm really glad it's a 5 round affair.

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