Who would lyoto machida have to beat?

Question

for you to consider him the number 1 LHW?

Answer 1

number 1 LHW as in title means he has to beat Quinton Jackson.

number 1 LHW in actual way means he has to grab the title then beat every challengers for a very long time.

Answer 2

I have machida lined up already as the number one contender. Sure some ppl think his style boring but it is very different. He is a karate master and waits for exactly the right moment and then takes care of his opponent. I thought the 3rd round of the fight was very intense.

He made tito look like a nobody for majority of the fight.

He has beaten ortiz,bonnar,rich franklin,bj penn, and up and coming Sokoudjou. That's not a bad lineup of wins.

Everyone that has been thrown in his way he has beat. What else can you ask. I would think after 13 fights and your still undefeated you deserve a shot whether you think he fought top knotch opponents or not.

Liddel lost 2 in a row before beating wandy, and wandy lost three in a row before beating jardine. They need to face each other again to see where they are at. So that should throw Machida ahead of those guys. Plus Dana White loves Machida now!

You have to remember that it is a plus to be very popular to get lined up for title shots but not always. Deserving fighters do get it. Look at Tim Sylvia, he had the belt multiple times and in my mind he is the most boring fighter ever. Machida is just smart. Bottom line.

Answer 3

I think he should fight the iceman chuck lidell, i like to see which is better, offense or defense, striker or technician. I cant w8 for that match to come,. If Machida wins that match-up, he should be ready to take on Rampage or whoever will be the champ then!

Answer 4

When he actually fights someone he will get respect.  But his back pedaling against Tito will stick in everyones mind for awhile.  He ran the entire fight and that never looks good.

Answer 5

MMA is funny business.  Chuck beats Wandy,  but gets destroyed by Quinton who was destroyed by Wandy.

  If I had to rank them it's like this-

Quinton#1

Chuck#2

Wandy#3

Machida#4

Honestly I think Chuck and Wandy would kill Machida,  but Machida could beat Rampage.  I don't really know why I feel that way.  If I was Machida I would avoid a fight with those guys.  There is lots of good fighters in the world  so I wouldn't worry about who's #1 and all that because a lot of guys could beat them if given the chance.

Answer 6

Machida is garbage, thats all he does is run. He isn't even in the top 5 in his weight class. Lidell, Griffen, Evans, Silva, and Jackson are all better. Machida should consider running marathons, thats all he is good for.

Answer 7

For me to consider him # 1 he would have to beat Silva who I think has to much power for how fast he is to loose to Machida. Then he would have to beat Chuck. It's just like the announcers said when Machida fought Tito. I think a heavy hitter would finish him. Frankly if he did beat every one the way he beat Tito I would hate him for it. I understand it works but it's just not as fun to watch the way he's always avoiding the fight. Thats my opinion.

Answer 8

Machida will never get a shot at the title. ok maybe not never, but it will take him a while. here's why:

Machida has ZERO personality, and for the most part, although his fighting style is very technical, its also very boring.  4 out of his 5 wins have been by decision.

then you have a fighter like Thiago Alves, who is also undefeated, but has won his last four fights with stoppages (3 by tko, 1 by submission). i really don't know why people aren't talking about this kid more.

there's a whole second tier of LHW fighters that are coming up.  Machida, Thiago Silva, Goran Reljic, Rashad Evanas, Sokoudjou, Matt Hamil etc.

but the top tier still belongs to: Rampage, Wanderlei, Shogun (only 3 losses in his entire career and people want to write him off), Liddell, and i guess Griffin since he has a title shot

but its a crazy division, anything can happen.  Jardine beats Liddell.  Liddell Beats Wanderlei.  Wanderlei beats Jardine.  Rampage beats Liddell twice.  Wanderlei beats Rampage twice.  Shogun beats Rampage.  Jardine beats Griffen.  Griffen beats Shogun.  anyways you get the idea.  it really just depends on who shows up on any given night.

UFC is in the entertainment business, and not really in the who's the best fighter business, which is why there is no real ranking system, and the UFC matches up popular fighters, or matches fighters based on the styles.

the point of this whole long rant is that for guys like Machida to get a shot, its comes down to more than just a good record and quality wins.  it comes down to whether the UFC thinks they can turn you into a marketable superstar.  That was the whole reason for having Machida fight Ortiz.  Ortiz, despite being way past his prime, still is a big name, and in the UFC its better to beat a big name, than a highly skilled fighter.

but i think if he were able to beat any two from that top tier list that i made, or a couple more (he already beat Sokoudjou)  from the second tier and one from the top tier, at that poont it would be pretty hard to deny him a shot at the title.

ok thats enough out of me.

Answer 9

The next fight for him should be Silva or Liddell. If he gets past them, he should be in line for a title shot. What probably is going to happen is he will be rushed into a title shot against the winner of Rampage vs. Griffin.  Griffin, he can beat hands down. I don't know about Rampage.

Answer 10

I already have him as my number one contender, so naturally he'd have to go through the champ to be considered number 1.

Answer 11

He will need to beat more top tier opponents, so far he has only beaten Tito (if you even count him as top tier), his next fight will likely be vs. a big name, I am not a huge fan of his style though, don't he look exactly like Rye from Street Fighter 2 though?