I liked what Shawn Tompkins said
Quote:"I've got two plans if any of my fighters ever fight Lyoto Machida," Tompkins told Cofield and Cokin on ESPN Radio1100 in Las Vegas. "First of all, I'm going to go to three of the best karate schools in the area, get their best guys, and work that timing. Because that's all it is: He has a different timing than everybody else. And secondly, you need to be a wrestler. You need to be chest-to-chest with that guy, and you need to be either pressing him against the cage or putting him on his back."
For me..
The key is to figure out his standup. Until you figure out his standup, you will never have a chance to take him down and keep him there.
Machidas timing is way different from anybody.
Everyone says how difficult it is to find training partners who can emulate Machida. This is true but it will become easier over the next little while.
People are studying Machidas tapes like crazy. he will be the most scouted fighter over the next 12 months. There is a lot of tapes of his fights a people will adapt to him. People will start to figure out his timing and then make a game plan around that.
Once you figure out his standup timing, you have to make a plan on how to get him to the ground.. see how he fights from there.
Machida has a bjj Black belt, but no one knows how good he is. This is the place to test him. Remember Tito almost tapped him. BBs dont get caught in triangles by Tito.. maybe Machida was over confident at the time, but looked bad when Tito trapped him.
Plus he has never been on his back so lets see him defend some mean ground and pound.
But until people learn how to stand with him, he may never lose a round.
