Return of the Machida

[Paul Byars]

War machida!

[David Rosado]

Rooting for Machida a lot in this fight. Not only do I want him to break Jones' cockiness apart with his technique but I also recently found out that his former long-time BJJ coach is a member of my team! Alexey Cruz, 3rd degree BB under De La Riva, taught Machida for a long time in Brazil, so that's only more reason to support "The Dragon" next weekend.

WAR MACHIDA!

I still don't get the Jones hate. He's not cocky. If anything he SHOULD be cocky. Yeah, he's very confident. So is Anderson Silva. If you run through everyone they put in front of you with relative ease,you'd have an abundance of confidence too. But I don't see cockiness. I see a 24 year old kid who's trying to control his excitement. I see a young dude who realizes he hasn't even reached his full potential and he's STILL running through top guys and he realizes this.

Cockiness=arrogance. I don't see him making arrogant statements. I see him being very confident in his abilities, and he should be. If anything, I see him making more efforts toward humility than anything.


I'm a huge Machida fan. Have been since he KO'd Rich Franklin. I was a fan during the time where everyone called him boring. But I know Machida's style so well that I've been able to predict how every one of his fights would go. Truth is, unless he's changed his style, he's not beating Jones. He'll have to be much more aggressive to beat Jones.

[David Stager]

I still don't get the Jones hate.

As a Jone's hater, I've often asked myself what exactly it is about him that makes me hate him (I'm also using the term hate loosely here). I think it's because of his body type. Really. It doesn't seem fair that he's got such long arms and legs. On the one hand, he's exploiting his natural advantages, but on the other hand, who else can shoot for a takedown as far out as he does successfully? And who but Jon Jones wouldn't whiff with those spinning back elbows? The guy is freakishly long-limbed, and I hate him for it.

[David Rosado]

As a Jone's hater, I've often asked myself what exactly it is about him that makes me hate him (I'm also using the term hate loosely here). I think it's because of his body type. Really. It doesn't seem fair that he's got such long arms and legs. On the one hand, he's exploiting his natural advantages, but on the other hand, who else can shoot for a takedown as far out as he does successfully? And who but Jon Jones wouldn't whiff with those spinning back elbows? The guy is freakishly long-limbed, and I hate him for it.

I guess it's the same reason people hated Brock when he came on the scene and started using his size and strength to bully people. But eventually people figured out how to beat him. It's not Jones' fault that he's built that way and uses it to his advantage. For a long time Sherk had an "unfair" advantage of being so short because it was damn near impossible to take him down, but he had no problem taking everyone else down. Mike Tyson's short arms made his hooks vicious. Klitschko brothers use their reach to jab their way to decisions. A lot of guys have physical advantages that they use in their favor. It's not fair to hate them for it.

And to be honest, Anderson has had a similar advantage by being taller and having a longer reach. GSP for a long time out sized a lot of his opponents. And on the opposite side you have Stefan Struve who, despite his reach advantage, still loses to better fighters.

Not trying to convert you. Just saying, size advantage isn't a good reason to "hate" on the kid. His size isn't what gives him wins. It's how he uses that size and applies technique. I think he deserves a little more credit than "he's just long."

I'm going to start a Jones hate thread.

[Karim Graham]

pfft, jones is just long
machida is a samurai.

[Brent Smith]

As a Jone's hater, I've often asked myself what exactly it is about him that makes me hate him (I'm also using the term hate loosely here). I think it's because of his body type. Really. It doesn't seem fair that he's got such long arms and legs. On the one hand, he's exploiting his natural advantages, but on the other hand, who else can shoot for a takedown as far out as he does successfully? And who but Jon Jones wouldn't whiff with those spinning back elbows? The guy is freakishly long-limbed, and I hate him for it.

You don't like him cause of how he's built??? This can't be a serious statement. Its fair cause he makes weight and comes to fight. And he beats ass in the process.

[David Rosado]

pfft, jones is just long
machida is a samurai.

Like I said, Stefan Struve is long too. But that doesn't give you wins. Jones is long. But he isn't JUST long.