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When golf legend Jack Nicklaus was still a young upstart in the sport and only starting to tear up PGA courses, legend Bobby Jones commented following ‘The Golden Bear’s”65 Masters win that “he plays a game with which I am not familiar”. Following Lyoto Machida’s absolute destruction of Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 98, there’s likely a few MMA fighters saying the same thing. Machida completely befuddled Evans en route to a 2nd round TKO victory after which ‘The Dragon’ looked as if hed barely worked up a sweat.

The fight started slowly, with each man trying to get a feel for his opponent and wait him out to see who blinked first. Evans, who prefers to counter punch, quickly began to become uncomfortable with facing an adversary who didn’t come right at him. Late in the first round, Machida went on offense with frightening suddenness, flooring Evans with a nice straight right hand. Evans was able to recover and survive, but it only delayed the inevitable as Machida used another right hand to send his opponent down again and did so for the third time in the fight with a crisp combination that displayed the handspeed that hadn’t before been seen from ‘The Dragon’ . Evans gamely tried to fight back, but a final right hand from the Shotokan Karate master left him out cold.

After the fight UFC announcer Joe Rogan proclaimed the start of the Machida era and this is not just mere hyperbole. Machida is unlike any fighter before him, rooted in mastery of traditional martial arts but with the versatility of a modern MMA competitor. He’s essentially a Mortal Kombat character come to life–in a more realistic cross disciplinary comparison he shares many of the same characteristics as boxing great Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as he combines insane handspeed, underrated stopping power and nearly impenetrable defense into an unorthodox and extremely lethal package.

Outside of the cage, Machida is a modest and respectful gentleman who is quick to give credit to his father and his karate teachers for his MMA success. He spent most of his UFC 98 postfight interview not singing his own praises, but imploring others to strive to realize their dreams. In the past, his limited English was seen as a potential marketing liability here in the US but on this occasion he demonstrated vastly improved fluency in the language as a Portuguese translator stood by.

An odd trivia note about Machida serves as further repudiation for MMA neophytes who think that the sports kinship with pro wrestling began with Brock Lesnar: Machida was discovered by Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki, and became something of his protege. He trained for some time at the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo in Tokyo and made his MMA debut on a NJPW card in 2003, defeating Pancrase veteran Kengo Watanabe. For a time, Inoki had designs on pushing Machida as his predecessor, but his success in shoot fights quickly opened up other doors.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about Machida is that hes only now reaching his full potential as an MMA fighter. In other words, hes only going to get better which is a scary prospect for opponents given the fact that hes never lost in MMA competition. Early in his UFC career he had a reputation as a boring fighter, but in his recent bouts hes shown a downright lethal ability to end fights.

Machida will very likely face Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at some point and its difficult to see him faring much differently than Evans did. One thing working in ‘Rampage’s’ favor is his greater experience and a resume filled with high level opponents of various fighting styles. Still, everyone comes back to the fundamental reality that no one has ever really seen a fighter quite like Machida before.

In the co-main event of the evening, Matt Hughes defeated Matt Serra by unanimous decision to gain the upperhand in their long running feud. It was a surprisingly entertaining fight, with Serra taking the first round with his power punching before Hughes used his takedown and ground control abilities to win rounds two and three.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer experienced in travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a staff handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, falconry and scuba diving. He lives in Las Vegas with four dogs and a pet coyote.

UFC 100 was a historic night for the sport of mixed martial arts, and Brock Lesnar used the occasion to avenge his previous loss to Frank Mir with a lopsided TKO victory. With the victory, Lesnar unified the promotion’s heavyweight championship. The Mir/Lesnar tilt was the main event on an epic card which culminated an insane week in Las Vegas.

The anticipation surrounding UFC 100 was unprecedented among the fight sport media and, more significantly, among mainstream sports media. MMA has long has been an object of scorn, disdain and ignorance among traditional sports media, and in this context the fact that every major outlet including ESPN, SI.com and Fox Sports featured UFC 100 as their top story of the day is downright amazing. The broader implications of UFC 100 remain to be seen, but it could very likely become a turning point for the sport where MMA transcended cult or niche status to burst into the mainstream consciousness.

While the big metric of the events success will be its PPV buy rate”which will almost certainly shatter existing UFC records”the attendance numbers and other tangible measures that are already known underscore the significance of the event. Fridays weigh in was a standing room only affair with over 2,000 fans turned away. A Fan Expo held in conjunction with UFC 100 counted over 30,000 visitors on Friday and an equal or greater number on Saturday. Even veteran fight media experienced in covering big boxing and MMA events worldwide have reported that the energy and general vibe around this event is like nothing theyve seen.

And the main event of the week was Saturdays UFC 100 fight card where Lesnar established not only his dominance of the promotions heavyweight division but his status as the biggest heel in MMA. To his credit, he had a perfect gameplan for Mir that allowed him to use his strength and power to maul his opponent on the ground while minimizing his exposure to submissions.

By contrast, Mir made a tactical mistake in allowing Lesnar to put him on his back so quickly and control him on the ground. He may have considered this his best opportunity to win”wait out Lesnar and look for an opportunity for a submission”but it never materialized and by the end of the first round hed already absorbed a brutal beating. Lesnar quickly took Mir down again at the start of the second round, ending the fight with a punishing ground and pound assault that prompted referee Herb Dean to call a stop to the contest at 1:48 of the second round.

Lesnar’s postfight performance was less impressive and not befitting a champion. He taunted Mir after the stoppage, prompting the crowd to boo him mercilessly. He responded to this with a double handed middle finger salute before a short and arrogant postfight interview that would have been much more at home in the WWE than in this setting. Mir was the consummate professional in defeat, giving credit to his opponent and generally displaying all of the class that Lesnar lacked.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

It may be a bit of a stretch to call Satoshi Ishii the Michael Phelps of Japan, but not by much. His victory in the heavyweight judo competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was easily the defining moment of the games for his countrymen and was considered by most media outlets the #1 highlight of the year in all of sports. Though Japan does well at the Olympics for a country of its size and has won gold medals in a number of sports, its important to keep in mind that until the late’70s judo was the countrys most popular sport.

Ishii himself is also a marketing dream. Hes especially big by Japanese standards with 240 pounds packed on his bulky 511 frame. Not surprisingly, hes tough as nails and a terror on the mat but away from the gym he comes off like an awkwardly cheerful overgrown boy. He definitely seems younger than his 22 years, but gives off the vibe of a nice neighbor boy who youd gladly pay to mow your lawn. Unlike his telegenic American gold medalist counterpart Phelps, who acts as if he spent as much time working on media relations as his backstroke heading up to the Olympic games, Ishii’s demeanor is of an athlete who literally spent the bulk of his life in a gym only to emerge and find himself a national hero and superstar. He alternately seems to be having the time of his life at the vortex of a media frenzy as he is somewhat overwhelmed by the attention.

With the ability to offer him the most money and exposure, it seemed almost a fait accompli that Ishii would sign with DREAM and K-1 parent group FEG. Obviously its a good idea to keep your options open in negotiations, so he also reportedly talked to Sengoku parent World Victory Road and Antonio Inokis Inoki Genome Federation pro wrestling group. As expected, however, FEG reportedly presented Ishii with the most lucrative offer: 500 million yen (roughly $5.5 million US) to fight on DREAM and K-1 cards, with incentive bonuses based on his drawing power and performance. He would very likely become the highest paid mixed martial artist in the world before hed even stepped into the ring for the first time.

Ishii then shocked the Japanese fight sport world by categorically rejecting FEGs offer, saying that it was his lifelong dream to fight in the UFC. While this rationale might sound plausible to a US based fan, its akin to a top college baseball player from a SEC school turning down a big offer from the Atlanta Braves saying that its his lifelong dream to play for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan Central League. It frequently comes a shock to US MMA fans when immersed in Japans culture for the first time just how low the UFC ranks in the countrys fight sport pantheon. In MMA, their profile is lower than DREAM and Sengoku, but even smaller groups like Shooto and DEEP. Overall, the interest in and prestige of the UFC is well below not only boxing but even Japanese pro wrestling (puroresu).

Ishii then travelled to Las Vegas for UFC 92, with the Japanese media in tow covering his every move. There were countless photo opportunities with Dana White, who spoke of Ishii in glowing terms, along with top UFC stars. Upon his return to Japan, he was repeatedly photographed wearing UFC t-shirts while speaking enthusiastically about Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and everyone else involved with the promotion. He appeared at the Sengoku card in January addressing the audience from the ring and wearing his ubiquitous UFC shirt; his message was that he was going to fight in America for awhile but would eventually return to Japan.

At age 22, Ishiis got plenty of time to develop as a fighter. His biggest downside risk from signing with Zuffa is financial since hed be lucky to get a fraction of what FEG is willing to pay him. The competitive logic of learning his craft slowly notwithstanding, theres a huge risk in automatically assuming that he can fight for the UFC for a few years and then cash a big check when he returns to Japan as the potential of injury and changing market conditions could seriously impact his market value.

Theres another very realistic scenario that it was all a negotiating ploy by Ishii. The UFC was likely willing to play along, figuring that their investment of a few plane tickets and hotel suites would be worth the resulting PR surge in Japan.

With the recent revelation that Ishii has broken off UFC negotiations to entertain offers from other parties thats starting to look like the plausible explanation for the once hot and heavy courtship between Ishii and Zuffa.

As a postscript to the Ishiis relationship with the UFC, it apparently opened the doors for his move to the US where hell be training with the Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. That alone is a positive for his future development as a fighter, as hell be training with a whos who of professional fighting including the gym’s namesake, Randy Couture. Training at a high level facility like Xtreme Couture among such an abundance of talent is a career move thats difficult to second guess.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Reigning lightweight champ BJ Penn entered his main event battle against welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre looking to become the first man in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in two weight classes. GSP never gave him the chance to make history, as he stopped Penn after four increasingly dominant rounds to retain his belt with a TKO victory.

Both fighters had considerable fan support, with vocal, flag waving delegations from the Hawaiian Islands and Canada in evidence. During ring introductions, both men received enthusiastic cheers tempered with a few boos. After the opening horn sounded, however, the Penn backers had little to cheer about while the champions supports broke out in G-S-P chants on several occasions. The first round was fairly evenly contested, with St. Pierre trying to get a first hand feel for Penns often unorthodox”but highly successful”takedown defense. GSP made several takedown attempts, but had them repeatedly stuffed by Penns incredible balance and flexibility.

Boxing guru Freddy Roach recently praised Penn as the best technical puncher in MMA, but he had no opportunity to bring this weapon to bear as he had trouble finding the range from the outset. GSP mixed up his look perfectly, either staying just outside Penns range using his 6 reach advantage effectively or more often smothering his opponent on takedown attempts. St. Pierre was unable to complete any takedowns during the first round, but easily dictated the pace and style of the bout.

GSP began to assert his dominance in round two. He got a takedown early in the frame and began to mount a ground and pound assault while moving around in Penns legendary guard with frightening ease. At this point, it was apparent that GSPs superior strength and insane physical conditioning were going to figure prominently in the outcome of the fight.

The eventual outcome was foretold between rounds two and three, as the obviously exhausted Penn required a pep talk from his entourage that his fatigue was all in his head. Across the cage, GSP calmly sipped water and listened intently to trainer Greg Jacksons instructions looking for all the world that he could go 12 rounds if necessary.

Round three was similar to the previous one, with GSP taking his opponent to the mat with a decreasing level of resistance and mauling him with punches and elbows once he got there. His complete control over the BJJ black belt Penn was incredible, but hardly surprising given the way that GSP dominated four time NCAA All American wrestler Josh Koscheck on the ground during their matchup. That may be the most exceptional thing about Georges St. Pierre”his willingness to attack his opponents strengths and success at doing so.

The fourth round was a wall to wall rout for the Canadian welterweight champion, who started by effectively trading strikes with Penn before taking him down once again and resuming his highly successful ground based attack. At this point with GSP moving around at ease and Penn mounting little resistance it was apparent that the challenger was physically spent. St. Pierre almost ended the fight on the ground, as referee Herb Dean repeatedly reminding Penn that he needs to fight back. Penn survived the round on instinct alone, moving around just enough to keep the referee from stopping the proceedings. After the horn sounded to end the fourth round, however, it was evident that Penn had nothing physically or emotionally left. As he leaned headfirst against the cage in exhaustion, an impromptu conference amongst his handlers on whether or not to continue became moot when the fight was stopped by Dean on advice from the ringside physician. There was no argument whatsoever from Penn or his entourage.

Displaying his characteristic class, GSP delayed his celebration until he had crossed the cage and kneeled by his vanquished foe to honor his competitive spirit.

Earlier in the evening, Lyoto Machida kept his undefeated professional MMA record intact with a first round TKO victory over Thiago Silva. Machida may be the best in the world at fighting while backing up, and Silva found his aggressive style working against him. Machida took his opponent down and knocked his opponent down twice”all counters as Silva was coming forward and Machida backing away. As the first round entered its final seconds, it appeared that Silva started to ease up in anticipation of the horn. Machida used this opportunity for another takedown, and then nailed his surprised opponent with a powerful punch that ended the fight.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

In the aftermath of Brock Lesnars 2nd round TKO victory over Frank Mir the prevailing attitude toward him from mainstream fans has experienced a sudden and seismic shift. Before his past two fights many were questioning whether his credentials justified giving him a shot at the title, with some even unfairly comparing him to EliteXC YouTube sideshow attraction Kimbo Slice. In the aftermath of Lesnars UFC 100 victory the new question surrounding the former WWE champion has become who can beat this guy? Lesnar definitely is a freaky physical specimen combining size and strength with speed and agility. Hes also progressing by leaps and bounds as a fighter with every bout. Still, hes got a big deficit in experience to make up on the job as UFC heavyweight champion.

Lesnar is no doubt a handful for any opponent, but in many ways has been the beneficiary of favorable matchups throughout his MMA career. More recently, Frank Mir made a serious tactical error, thinking that he could absorb a beating on the ground and wait for a submission opportunity. Lesnar had gameplanned Mir perfectly, and implemented a fight plan that allowed him to pound his opponent mercilessly while avoiding the risk of submission. Neither observation is meant to diminish the significance of Lesnars victories, but to underscore the fact that hes not unbeatable. Heres five fighters who could do it:

1) FEDOR EMELIANENKO: ‘The Last Emperor’ is until proven otherwise the best heavyweight in the sport. The former PRIDE champion has striking power, submission mastery, and may be the toughest fighter mentally in the sport. Fedor might get taken down by the new UFC heavyweight champ, but hed reverse it from the bottom and win via armbar.

2) ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA: Nogueira would present Lesnar with another formidable challenge. His five career losses are all via decision and came to the absolute highest level of competition (Fedor Emelianenko twice, Frank Mir, Josh Barnett and Dan Henderson). The Mir fight was a lopsided loss, but it was later revealed that he had been recovering from a staph infection that limited his training and clearly impacting his conditioning. His ability to withstand punishment and take a punch allows him to be patient against powerful opponents and wait for an opening for a submission, as evidenced in his fight against Tim Sylvia. A healthy ‘Nog’ would be able to test Lesnar’s ability to ‘finish’ matches and would be an even more dangerous submission threat than Mir.

3) JOSH BARNETT: Barnett is another unlikely opponent for Lesnar, also due to his strained relationship with Dana White and current issues with his positive drug test. Barnett also has a solid wrestling background, with the added dimension of his sizable submission repertoire. As his career has progressed, Barnett has become a more patient and tactically sound fighter and his standup game has improved significantly. Unfortunately for MMA fans, a matchup between Lesnar and Barnett is more likely to happen in an IGF pro wrestling event than in the UFC.

4) ALISTAIR OVEREEM: Overeem is actually bigger than Lesnar”260 pounds and 65 tall–and has compiled a 5-1-1 record in his last seven fights. Mirko Cro Cop suggests that hes the *only* fighter in the world who could beat Fedor Emelianenko at this point. Hes got great standup including a kickboxing background that could cause Lesnar problems, as well as solid ground fighting ability. Hes yet another heavyweight that is unlikely to bend to Dana Whites contractual demands, and currently has a relationship with DREAM in Japan and Strikeforce in the US. Still, hes a dangerous matchup for any fighter on the planet. Hopefully, his recent hand injury will recover sufficiently to allow him back into competition quickly.

5) RANDY COUTURE: Lesnars win over Couture was far from decisive, and it didnt have anything to do with the age disparity. Couture got caught with a big shot and it cost him the fight. Until that point, he was more than holding his own. He was making his opponent work hard, had the edge in the striking exchanges and had opened up a cut over Lesnars right eye. The most likely route for Couture at this stage of his career is to drop back down to light heavyweight but should he desire a rematch his experience and toughness give him a chance to prevail. Granted, itll never be a favorable matchup on paper for Couture but at the same time Lesnar in no way proved his categorical superiority over The Natural. New gameplan, new tactics and Lesnar could end up being a victim.

An intriguing matchup down the road could be against Croatian striking machine Mirko Cro Cop. Cro Cop has battled injuries over the past year or so but if he could come close to the form he demonstrated in winning the PRIDE Open Weight GP he could be another formidable challenge. At his best, Cro Cop is simply the most devastating striker in the sport.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.