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22/06/09 - Machida rejects Dana's talk of 'Machida Era'
UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has refuted the “Machida Era” tag that Dana White has been using lately and says he has "too much to prove" now that he is champion.
“It’s too early to talk this. Getting the belt is hard but keeping it is even harder. The division is full of great fighters. I will talk about the era only after holding the belt for a long time” Lyoto said to Terra.com.br.
Lyoto became champion after beaten Rashad Evans up at UFC 99 in the second round. Despite having won rapidly the karate artist didn’t consider that an easy fight.
“That fight was very difficult despite having been fast. Anybody can define a bout in our division. That was very strategical. In the beginning I didn’t expose myself and neither did he. At the first opportunity I managed to catch Rashad. He wasn’t giving away any chances.”
Lyoto has fought for six years to get the championship and didn’t believe when Evans was fallen on to the ground. That was unbelievable to The Dragon, as he says: "I didn’t believe in what I saw on that moment. I thought ‘Wow, I really won!.’
"That was like a dream and I just realized I was the champion when I saw him getting up after some time. I didn’t understand right at the knockout time though.”
Machida considers his fight against UFC veteran Tito Ortiz as the hardest one in the organization because the crowd was rooting for Ortiz and there was an argument between Dana White and Tito outside the cage.
“All of my fights had more or less some level of difficulty but I think that against Tito Ortiz has been the toughest one in the event because of the psychological factor involved in the bout. He had problems with Dana White and had the support of the audience that screamed his name. All of those things were new to me," the champion revealed.
"He almost submitted me in the end of the fight when he set a triangle. I felt it all getting dark but wanted to escape anyway. Then he grabbed my arm and I got an injury for a week but my wish of getting away was stronger than the hit.”
The newest LHW champion will square off with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his first defense of the title in the main event of UFC 104 on October 24th and he is already training for this exciting challenge.
“Actually I have already started the preparation since last week. My training starts fortifying the base to take it easy later. I’ve been developing punch, power and ability to get there in a good shape. I thought two months of preparation were enough but now I see I have always to be training.”
The karateka has impressed the world showing up his great skills of striking and knocking out recognizable fighters of the category such Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva and he says the strategy is the same for Shogun.
“Of course I will always try to fight on my feet and I will always try to finish the fight before the end. Therefore, I will find a knock out but I have to keep in mind the fight can come to the ground, even more versus Shogun, an excellent athlete whom had been champion at PRIDE where he proved to be very dangerous.”
Maurio Rua really is hazardous standing and on to the floor. A complete fighter able to submit or knock out his adversaries, Machida talked about Ruas’ skills.
“He knows how to rule over four aspects of fighting. He is good standing, taking down, has strong mind and improved floor game. I also consider myself a complete fighter. I take down rather well and I manage to hit and defend on the floor. We're going to be very difficult to one another.“
Recently the Brazilian has revealed he drinks his own urine while trains for fighting and once again Machida explained the source of the habit and the benefits of the unusual therapy.
“This is an ancient habit of my father. He let us free to do it or not. I believe in it. I saw cases of people who had recovery from diabetes and other illnesses. I read articles about the benefits of this custom. The first urine of the day owns many vitamins taken on the day before," he explained.
"It’s a way of re-absorption of those vitamins that would be wasted. I’m not radical though. I only do it during the camp for fighting. I hardly ever get sick and I feel good when I drink piss.”
FO Staff Brasil
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