Weeks before the biggest fight of his life, Brazilian Lyoto Machida is being tipped as favorite, even with two-time champion of the weight group Tito Ortiz as his adversary. Criticized in the past for winning all his fights by decision, the karateka is now seen differently by American fans and has been carving out a place for himself at the top of the rankings ever since he beat Cameroonian Thierry Sokoudjou.
For Ortiz, the fight on the 24th in Las Vegas at UFC 84 will be his last one for the UFC, as his relationship with company president Dana White has gone from bad to worse. With that in mid, the wrestler is training hard to show the world what he’s capable of. One took analyze this fight was Chuck Liddell’s trainer, John Hackleman, who didn’t hide his admiration for the Brazilian.
"Machida is probably a top 5 light heavy right now. I think he's really good at making everything work and he's really technical. He is like the Larry Holmes of MMA. It doesn't look like he's doing much, but he does enough to keep beating people,” said the leader of team The Pit to Fighthype.com.
