"Karate is back" – Lyoto Machida

Jason Stanley 

“Karate is back”, said an ecstatic Lyoto Machida tonight after his UFC 98 victory over Light Heavy Weight Champion Rashad Evans.

At 3 minutes and 57 seconds into the second round, Evans collapsed like a rag doll with his legs buckled underneath as a result of a punching onslaught by Machida.

It was an exhibition of superior karate tactics, strategy and application. Machida dominated the fight, barely taking a blow from Evans all the while employing textbook karate tactics and combinations.

What makes Machida such a great fighter is his awesome understanding of fighting dynamics, and his ability to apply it against any opponent. His perfect MMA record now stands at 15-0-0.

This makes such a great victory for us who practice and teach karate because Lyoto didn’t just “get lucky”. Rashad is no slouch with a record of 18-1-1. Simply put Rashad Evans is the last in line of the Machida path of destruction. Others include Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva and B.J Penn – all very successful fighters.

And as usual when it comes to talking about karate, Joe Rogan again had a severe case of verbal diarrhea. To paraphrase, he made a rash generalization about karate kicks not being as powerful as muay thai, and also some reference to the “one punch one kill” karate philosophy not applying when fighting a grappler.

Hmmm, don’t know about you but it seems to me that you can’t grapple too successfully when you’ve been knocked out – what do you think, Joe?

This is a good day for karate teachers.

You can now give a stunning example of a traditional karate fighter in the public eye, who now rules a sport where BJJ and muay thai have dominated. As Joe Rogan said after the fight (the one thing I think I can actually agree with him on) is that the UFC has entered a new era.

The funny thing is that those of us who teach karate see exactly what Machida does and we understand his strategies, but so many UFC fans, fighters and coaches are completely bamboozled.

Use this opportunity to promote your school. Reference it in your classes and get people excited and talking about karate again…

Karate is back!

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6 thoughts on “"Karate is back" – Lyoto Machida

  1. Mike Massie

    Go Lyoto!

    I'm so glad to see someone with a lot of skill and finesse in striking winning matches again.

  2. Jason Stanley

    Yes, me too.

    It's a tough division. I don't think there's been a successful title defense in that division since Chuck Liddell defended it like 4 times or something like that – who by the way is one of the all time great strikers in the UFC with a strong Kempo karate background.

  3. lOU cRISAFI

    Great fight, like your review. Bottom line is a SKILLED Martial Arts fighter should ALWAYS win over these guys. If you review all the past fights when a trained guy goes into the ring his skill prevails. Yes, almost always during these matches the "brawler" lasts through the first round and even seems to dominate. However, a trained Martial Artist can see what is coming in the next round and almost always proves to be a K.O. for the MA. Great for us. I am a bit disappointed in the UFC type of matches as they announce the fighters as black belts in this and that art. Most show NO real style/skill other than the raw punch power. There are some true MA fighters, GSP being one of best along with Silva. As far as Ldell goes, his last fight was terrible… Although these UFC bouts have brought attention to the "arts", I beleive some of it to be NEGATIVE. and I happen to teach Reality Based fighting tech, with a large student base. I fully agree with the concept, just don't like how the belt skill levels are represented to the G.P. Kids do get taken in pretty easy. Disapline is the first skill should be taught. I have been practicing over 30 yesrs and hold black belts to the 3rd degree in several forms and I am worried that we are sterring away from basics. Love your news letters, keep up the good work. LOU. P.S I agree, BOB is a MUST…IF YOU DON'T HAVE ATLEST ONE, GET ONE…

  4. Jean-Sebastien Fortier

    I too love Lyoto but let's not forget about GSP who is also a Kyokushinkai black belt and it shows in his kicks!

    On a side note, I don't see why you hate Joe Rogan so much and the way you report his talk about the one punch one kill is out of context.

    He indeed said that it didn't work against someone who can take you down or punch you in the face, but he ended his explanation saying "but when you know wresling and all those other things as well, that skill shines through!"

  5. Rick Wiedeman

    MMA fighting is a sport designed to favor the wrestler, so I'm particularly tickled to see a karateka kick ass.

    Ultimately, there are no superior martial arts, just superior martial artists, and at 15-0, we know who that is. 🙂

  6. Anonymous

    That was an awesome fight.
    Colin and I went to see it live.
    Absolutely awesome.

    ~DyLaN 0.0

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply