Saturday, June 6, 2009
Matt Hughes Blames Bad Coaching On Evans Loss To Machida

MMANEWS.COM


Matt Hughes gives his thoughts via his blog on the UFC 98 main event between Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida:

“I went back and watched the Rashad fight again, and I think it comes down to bad coaching. In the prefight press conference, I heard Rashad say that he didn’t bring anybody in who would resemble Machida’s style. When I heard that, I knew that there might be some problems. That is probably a big reason why Rashad didn’t do very well in the striking area. I also think Rashad should have been coached on using his wrestling talent. He didn’t shoot one takedown that I can remember and he just made it a sparring match. If I was to coach Rashad against Machida, I would have told him to make it a fight, use his wrestling and groundwork to really dictate the match. Not just go out and spar with him. I think Rashad could have done a lot better in that fight. I’m not saying he should have won, but he’s a lot better than he showed on Saturday.”

http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/Matt-Hughes- ... chida.html

I have to agree, somewhat. Rashad didn't go for a single takedown the entire time. It probably wouldn't have mattered, anyway.

He should have definitely taken him down, I would guess he would have had more of a chance with some ground-n-pound, bouncing some heads off the canvas ala Forest Griffin style .

Let me try this again:

Greg Jackson is just about as good as it gets when it comes to gameplan formulations; That's why I said I agreed "somewhat".

It likely has more to do with Machida's speed, accuracy and timing than any gameplan that could be devised, but the complete lack of a takedown attempt puzzles me. I don't think Rashad landed a single significant punch or kick the entire fight. Most people would have retreated to their strength, which would have been wresting for Rashad. Maybe Rashad doesn't have a "retreat reflex" (for lack of a better description)?

Machida has a very underrated ground game. I think he could take Anderson Silva on the ground and Silva is no joke.

Thing is that big camps are prepared more than we know before such big fights. They have probably informed themselves what Machida can and what he can't do that good. However there is another factor beside someone's technique, psychology. You can be as good as you want but if you aren't mentally in the game it won't be good.
Best example I know is Cro Cop. He went to fight Randleman totaly relaxed and lost, for rematch he was different. Since he is featured in media here, before every fight you can see his mood at airport and slightly know what to expect.