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UFC 113: Rua vs Machida in Quotes

The Machida and Mauricio rematch is overshadowed by the trash-talking semi-main eventers.

May 7, 2010

This weekend Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will meet in a highly anticipated rematch of their UFC 104 fight. While the two Brazilians are all business, the guys in the semi-main event are a little more playful.

Machida
Machida Credit: UFC

This Isn't Your Typical Rematch

Machida agrees that this time the fight will be different. In MMA history there have been a ton of high profile rematches. Some, like Mir-Lesnar or Couture-Liddell have diametrically different results. Others, like Ortiz-Shamrock or Ortiz-Liddell look like carbon copies of each other. Lyoto is excited to see what Rua brings to the table for their second fight.

"I believe every fight's a different fight. Every fight's a new experience. But I do think that both for myself and for Shogun, being in there with each other for 25 minutes, I'm sure that he noticed some things about me and I noticed some things about him. And that's what's the great thing about the rematch is is that we're both a lot more familiar with each other than we were the first time we met. So I think it just makes all that much greater for a better fight this time around."

Rua
Rua Credit: UFC

Prepare For the Worst

But what will Rua do to take the title from Machida? Reporters love to ask questions about a fighter's strategy. Fighters, in turn, love to duck them. What makes this fight so compelling is how different it could be. Last time, Shogun challenged Machida standing. Will he take him to the ground this time?

"Many people think that taking the fight to the ground and trying to work in the ground with Machida would be a good way to end the fight, but that’s a very hard thing to say because Lyoto is also very good player on the ground, and he’s trained a lot of Sumo and a lot of wrestling. It’s very hard to get him down on the ground.

When you prepare to a fight you have to focus on the worst kind of situation you can go through a fight, and fighting Machida, the toughest situation you can find is fighting him standing up, as he is a very good stand up fighter. So, I try to prepare for the worst and whatever comes to the fight, he’ll be prepared anyway."

Machida
Machida Credit: UFC

To Be the Man, Be Fair

As Ric Flair said, "To be the man, you have to beat the man." Fans of Lyoto Machida used the wisdom of the Nature Boy to explain why their man was given the decision in last years title fight. But Lyoto doesn't necessarily agree with that logic.

"The way I feel is I think it has to be fair. I don't believe that the challenger has to come in and really take the belt from the champion. I think it needs to be judged the way it is, round for round. And I think it needs to be judged fairly."

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