Year of the Dragon

According to the Japanese zodiac, Lyoto Machida was born in the year of the horse. Machida finally christened his nickname “The Dragon” in 2007, the year of the boar. According to the Japanese zodiac, the Dragon will next arise in 2012. If Lyoto Machida wins his fight next weekend at UFC 104, one can make the argument that this year, 2009 is really the year of the dragon.

Lyoto’s journey to the top of the UFC’s glamor division was a long one. Despite an impressive flawless record, Lyoto Machida’s first few appearances in the Octagon did little to excite the masses. Lyoto won easily over Sam Hoger, David Heath, and Kazuhiro Nakamura, but hadn’t yet captured the imagination of the fans.

Most fans in the UFC like to see a wild exchanges of aggression like those shown by Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva. But such reckless aggression takes its toll. Lyoto Machida took little damage, but his reputation suffered.

Despite a slow start, Machida finally broke through in his fight against Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou had fought only five professional fights, but due to his spectacular knockouts, he entered UFC 79 with far more fanfare than Machida.

Machida dominated Sokoudjou, causing a lot of the hype behind Sokoudjou to move behind Machida.

Since then, Machida has been given a much higher profile, hand has flourished under greater expectations.

Already this year, Machida has vanquished two previously undefeated fighters in Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans. In both cases, Machida’s opponents didn’t look like they had any idea how to defeat Machida.

Machida was that dominant. For new UFC fans, it must seem like Machida has always been this dominant, because even when Machida has been hit, he’s rarely looked like he’s been in any danger.

There are a few times though, when Machida has been in real danger, and here are the top three.

Machida vs Sokoudjou

In hindsight, it looks like Machida simply rolled over his less-experienced opponent, but Machida was in trouble early after taking a big shot from Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou may have his weaknesses, but he hits hard, and he connected with a big punch right on the chin of Machida.

Machida was forced to clinch up with Sokoudjou, where the Judo black belt then executed a nice sweep. Machida’s own reversal was instantaneous and flawless. The instant he was on his back, he immediately began rolling Sokoudjou over, and moved into half-guard, where he began to break down the defenses of Sokoudjou.

Machida vs Greco

Sam Greco is an unfamiliar name to MMA fans, but he was a well-known kickboxer. Greco, a huge heavyweight fighter, had fought most of the biggest names in the world of kickboxing before he met Machida in Machida’s fifth professional MMA bout. This is perhaps the only fight in Machida’s career where his opponent found his timing. The striking exchanges were lightning-fast, and Machida was taking as much punishment as he was dishing out. Back then, Machida was a little more aggressive than he was early in his UFC career, where he began to employ excellent use of feints. Greco was timing Machida perfectly, causing Machida to lose his balance multiple times.

Machida was able to pull out a close decision by securing a takedowns and using his BJJ skills to control Greco for extended periods. This was a great win to keep his young undefeated streak intact.

Machida vs Ortiz

Machida looked to be on his way to an easy decision victory, as he worked from inside Tito’s guard with only a minute remaining in the fight. Ortiz unexpectedly turned the tables by securing a triangle choke, which Tito had never previously used in any of his MMA fights.

Machida fought through the triangle choke, and earned his victory. In the post-match interview, he said that he would rather die than tap.

Next week, Machida will be facing perhaps the most well-rounded opponent he has faced since he fought BJ Penn.

Shogun Rua possesses excellent Muay Thai and BJJ skills that should pose a serious challenge for Machida.

Also, for the first time, everybody is chasing Machida. For years, fighters have been hesitant to fight such an unfamiliar and elusive opponent. Forrest Griffin has stated on multiple occasions that he wants nothing to do with Lyoto Machida.

Now though, there are plenty of fighters lining up to fight Machida to earn the UFC belt.

Tags: Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva, UFC, Wanderlei Silva