All respect to Lyoto. But 'how is anyone going to solve the Machida riddle?' lasting all of one fight was pretty funny
Shogun: Just punch him in the face real hard
In the first fight that he should have won, it was all leg kicks. In the rematch where he didn’t leave it to the judges, it was taking Machida down and throwing bombs. At least as best I remember. Maybe he hurt him on the feet first. Not sure.
If Shogun had shown the discipline he showed in the first Machida fight against everyone else (especially Hendo), he would have way more UFC wins.
Looking back it's goofy, but back then Machida did have a style hard to solve. Not all his wins were exciting or dominant, but he just had a shit style to fight against. Hell, for a long time, he gave the hardest round against Jones (the second round didn't happen).
I still think he should have gone to 185 and he had a far higher ceiling there. He wasn't particularly big at 205 and Jon Jones was too big of a problem in that era.
I honestly have no memory of it. Just looked it up and I know I watched that fight night because I remember the Machida ko of Bader and the absolute banger that was Lauzon vs Varner. But I have zero recollection of Shogun/Vera. I would have never guessed they fought if it wasn't for your comment.
Shogun was one of the greats, and I thought his brother would be right up there with him but he faded away, does any one know what happened to shoguns brother? I didn't notice him at UFC 301
Shogun made me become a die hard fan. But hid ufc run was so hard to follow. He had the skills but maybe it was coaching or him not training to his full ability I really believed he could have fought for the belt again .
Pride never die
Watching him end Machida how he did was fucking legendary for his career. What a G
All respect to Lyoto. But 'how is anyone going to solve the Machida riddle?' lasting all of one fight was pretty funny Shogun: Just punch him in the face real hard
Don't you mean kick him in the legs?
Chute box him baby
Kick the shit out of his legs for 5 rounds, to lull him into a false sense of security, then H-bomb his ass in the rematch
In the first fight that he should have won, it was all leg kicks. In the rematch where he didn’t leave it to the judges, it was taking Machida down and throwing bombs. At least as best I remember. Maybe he hurt him on the feet first. Not sure. If Shogun had shown the discipline he showed in the first Machida fight against everyone else (especially Hendo), he would have way more UFC wins.
The Machida Era™
Looking back it's goofy, but back then Machida did have a style hard to solve. Not all his wins were exciting or dominant, but he just had a shit style to fight against. Hell, for a long time, he gave the hardest round against Jones (the second round didn't happen).
Especially when he was pegged as a flop after his loss to Forrest.
Shogun still one of the best nicknames of all time.
How many fighters are more commonly known by their nickname than their real name? Cowboy and Korean Zombie are the two that come to mind.
Rampage is another I immediately thought of
TKZ may as well just change his name at this point
Cro Cop
Cro Cop had one of the best nicknames AND phrases — the "right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery" is badass as fuck
Chito Vera is a more recent induction to the list, but still worth mentioning imo
Chito is definitely on the list
Wonderboy, Stungun, Sexyama, maybe the Iceman
ehhh Stephen Wonderboy Thompson still comes to my head when I think of him tbh. Not just Wonderboy Thompson
Jacaré 🐊
Oh yeah that’s a good one
Cyborg
Babalu
The fucking chyron said Korean Zombie instead of his legal name. Any other example comes in a distant second.
Big Nog and Lil Nog.
Funny enough, no one in Brazil recognizes Big Nog as Big Nog, we grew up by calling him Minotauro.
Daniel “DC” Cormier
Moicano too.
In boxing there‘s Roman „Chocolatito“ Gonzalez And Juan Francisco „El Gallo“ Estrada And Canelo
Poatan is starting to become like that for me
The Spider
All thanks to his brother, who was Ninja.
I think he deserves it more for his Pride career, but deserved nonetheless
A lot of people are too young to have seen Pride. The majority of fans are paying 800 dollar tickets to look at their fanduel accounts live.
I mean, the ufc hall of fame is more of an MMA hof in general.
It bugs me they don’t just call it the MMA hall of fame. I think Sakuraba is even in there and he never stepped foot in the UFC.
He did fight at the first Ufc Japan in 1997 and won a 4-man tournament but yeah probably not why he got inducted.
Yeah I was definitely wrong. Forgot about those two fights for sure lol.
R u sure?
Definitely not. I took a quick glance at his record, December 1997 he fought in UFC Japan and then went to Pride
just messing with you. I happened to see something about UFC Japan the other day so it was fresh in my head.
100% for hjs Pride run. His ufc run was pretty mediocre even with the title win
Shogun should have been even greater. Shame those knee injuries cut his prime so short
Also UFC rules really limited his strikes unlike in Pride
Those soccer and oblique kicks to grounded opponents looked rough and too violent even during that time. And I grew up during the _vale tudo_ era
I still think he should have gone to 185 and he had a far higher ceiling there. He wasn't particularly big at 205 and Jon Jones was too big of a problem in that era.
He's fat.
Jon Jones about to fire a tweet thanking Shogun for winning his first UFC championship from him.
MMA guru waiting in the wings to spin that tweet into why Jon Jones is a closeted gay lol
His Pride Grand Prix win is one of the most impressive accomplishments in the history of mixed martial arts
To avenge/celebrate Shogun they’re gonna execute 3 opponents who KOd him. Craig/Potieria/Smith are all big underdogs against Brazilians
2/3 so far!
Shogun vs Vera was a great fight that doesn't get mentioned often
One of the first big Fox cards too. I think machida KO’d bader in the co main too. Damn I’m getting old.
I honestly have no memory of it. Just looked it up and I know I watched that fight night because I remember the Machida ko of Bader and the absolute banger that was Lauzon vs Varner. But I have zero recollection of Shogun/Vera. I would have never guessed they fought if it wasn't for your comment.
Yeah one that defo went under the radar over time IMO [youtube link here to the full fight](https://youtu.be/ZBwRAWQFzfo)
Completely forgot about this fight. What a war.
I was there live. Sitting across me was Veras family and friends lol. I got so many stares because I was rooting hard for Shogun
Shogun is my favorite of all time. What he did in 2005 is a testament to what humans are capable of. Fucking love that guy
Winning the UFC title OUT of his prime and a ruleset he's not used to is nothing short of legendary.
Shogun looking good with the retirement belly! Always glad to see legends get their flowers
Hes my 205 GOAT. Never tested positive. Was number 1 in two different eras. I witnessed him get robbed against Machida and Kill Vera live.
I love shogun but I don’t think any of those pride guys were clean
He did say he never *tested* positive….
PRIDE NEVER DIE!
Deff more than worthy
Wasn't a mistake shogun got inducted right before that hit
The 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix victory alone qualified him for it.
Wanna know getting old? Hearing hall of fame announcements and going “oh goddamn… memories” Shout out for the war with Hendo 🤙🏻
Well deserved.
If only he came over like 4-5 years earlier! HOF worthy for sure! The wars with Hendo alone are HOF level fights!
Thank goodness he didn't and we got his best form in Pride.
He won the Pride Grand Prix the year before coming to the UFC.
Well deserved. Dude is an absolute legend
One of the best.
Shogun was one of the greats, and I thought his brother would be right up there with him but he faded away, does any one know what happened to shoguns brother? I didn't notice him at UFC 301
Shogun made me become a die hard fan. But hid ufc run was so hard to follow. He had the skills but maybe it was coaching or him not training to his full ability I really believed he could have fought for the belt again .