Does Lyoto Machida have enough left in the tank to defeat the talented and dangerous Derek Brunson?
The time has finally come for me to once again nerd out over the karate stylings of a certain former light heavyweight champion. Lyoto Machida makes his return to the octagon against the dangerous Derek Brunson in a battle that will a major test for both fighters. While Brunson has remained active, Machida hasn’t fought in 28 months since his loss to Yoel Romero at UFC Fight Night 70. This fight will determine if Derek Brunson can take out a veteran and legend in the sport while it will also be a measuring stick to gauge where Lyoto Machida currently stands at this point in his career.
Ranked as the #7 middleweight in the UFC, Derek Brunson has established himself as a truly dangerous knock out artist. That may come as a surprise considering that his background lies in wrestling, but his knock out victories over Ed Herman, Sam Alvey, Roan Carneiro, and Uriah Hall speak for themselves. He’s able to generate a tremendous amount of force when pushing forward. Being a southpaw and having a wrestling background, it’s only natural that Brunson would be extremely explosive from the lefty stance as it’s a preferred position for most amateur wrestlers. That means being still in front of Brunson will spell certain doom as Daniel Kelly learned the hard way back at UFC Fight Night 110.
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What Derek Brunson will want to do in this fight is stay busy while in the pocket with Machida. Staying at long range plays into the karate master’s style so it’s imperative that Brunson closes the distance. Inside leg kicks to overhand lefts should be a go to, but purely as a means of closing the gap for a takedown. While Brunson has the power to knockout Machida on the feet his best road to accomplishing this is by creating a bit of chaos and catching his foe in the transition. While he may not have gotten the nod against Anderson Silva back at UFC 208, Brunson had some success when he made things a bit chaotic.
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Derek Brunson can’t afford to rush things against Machida. While he may be fast and powerful, Lyoto Machida’s game is all about using his opponent’s forward momentum against them. Brunson should look to utilize his jab for distance control, engage in wrestling exchanges for the sake of getting tie ups, then strike in the clinch before potentially dropping for another takedown. Crowding Machida and forcing him to the fence will also be beneficial as he did against Uriah Hall. With your back against the fence you have only two escape routes, either one leading into either a left or right hand.
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For Lyoto Machida fighting Brunson isn’t a scenario he’s unfamiliar with. A powerful wrestler with knock out power is something Machida has had to contend with since beginning his career. Time and again Machida has played the matador to his bull rushing foes and devastated them with beautiful counter strikes and counter wrestling. What makes his counter wrestling so impressive is the fact that Machida can get his hips away while constantly circling and pivoting away from his opponent which robs them of the chance to connect their hands for a strong grip. That sumo training has come in handy against many a wrestler.
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Being a karate based fighter, Machida has many tools that work in his favor against his opponents. For one, he should definitely want to work from both stances. Rather than sticking to the southpaw position, fighting from orthodox against Brunson will only enhance his distancing game. An open stance battle of southpaw versus orthodox means Machida will have to be mindful of Brunson’s explosive left straight, but that is something the karateka should be used to. In shotokan karate the holy grail of punching techniques all revolve around the kizami zuki or reverse punch, which is pretty much the cousin of the boxing straight cross. Machida has already demonstrated a great deal of power from his orthodox stance in the past as well, his match against Ryan Bader at light heavyweight demonstrating that fact perfectly. Bader rushed forward much in the same way that Brunson has in the past and paid the price for his impatience.
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Front kicks are going to be key in this fight for Machida. Not only will it keep Brunson at distance, but it will also zap the wrestler’s gas tank. Machida’s counter knee should also be a key weapon when Brunson chooses to level change.
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Pot shots should be used from the southpaw position to potentially frustrate his opponent while fakes and feints from orthodox position could lure Brunson into a hard counter. The feint into the rear round kick from orthodox position potentially followed up by a right straight should also work wonders. Here’s an example of this from southpaw position versus the orthodox Rashad Evans.
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I’ve always loved watching Machida and his karate style. The only drawback of his style is the lack of hooks in his arsenal. This makes exchanging in the pocket horrible for the karateka while making it an ideal position for Derek Brunson. This fight should answer a ton of questions for both fighters as whether title contention will once again be in their futures or merely a dream that may potentially slip through their fingers.
Who takes the win Saturday night?
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Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
