Quote: Chris Weidman Doesn’t Want To Stand And Bang With Lyoto Machida
Lyoto Machida and Chris Weidman are set to collide in the UFC 175 main event, in what has turned in to one of the more anticipated cards of the year so far. Originally booked to face Vitor Belfort at UFC 173, ‘The All-American’ finds himself in a tangle with a tricky karate master on July 5 after ‘The Phenom’ came unstuck with the whole TRT ban.
Much has been said of the improvements in Weidman’s striking, and the already masterful stand up that ‘The Dragon’ employs, and the former light-heavyweight champs coach, Kenny Johnson, has weighed in on the subject. Check out what he said to Fighters Only:
“You have a guy in Weidman who is a high-level wrestler yet his striking is still coming along. I don’t believe Weidman’s striking is anywhere near Lyoto’s striking,” Johnson explained to FO. “Since the fight starts out on the feet, I would imagine that Chris is going to want to take this fight to the ground and try and grind him out. I don’t think he wants to stand and bang with Lyoto.”
Machida’s karate base has seen him rack up eight of 21 wins by knockout, and you could argue that his head kick against Mark Munoz was one of his best. Does ‘The All-American’ have the skills to stand with Machida? Well he knocked out Anderson Silva with a pretty good left hook, but I don’t think ‘The Dragon’ will be dancing much. Johnson continues:
“I think it’s less about one specific art but more about how they mix everything together and become a mixed martial artist. I think Weidman has a really good wrestling background, he’s got fantastic jiu-jitsu and he’s shown that his striking is pretty good too. However, someone like Lyoto is really hard to train for because he has a skill-set that is one of a kind. I think the way he meshes his striking, jiu-jitsu and wrestling together when he’s training means that when he comes in to a fight he presents a very hard puzzle to figure out. This fight is very interesting to me because as the coach of Lyoto I obviously believe he’s going to win. However, as a fan of this sport I think it’s going to be a fantastic fight.”
With little over a week to go, the anticipation rises for this middleweight title fight. Machida has proved a very difficult opponent for wrestlers in the past, and strikers, but Weidman is the undefeated and undisputed champion. Will Machida win a belt in a second division, four years after losing his title at 205, or will Weidman show that he is here to stay?
Banner image courtesy of USA Today Sports
