Kimura heard from various sources on the ground in Seattle that Dana White announced that Henderson did not have time to recover from his injury until February 23, as the match against Machida was supposed to take place, and that you will let Alexander Gustafsson take Henderson's place. According to one source, it was likely that the UFC will contact Alex and team management later this week to see if Alex is interested in the game.
When Kimura spoke with Alex on Saturday evening (U.S. time) told Alex that he did not have any major damage to the body but was just sore in some places, and that he had to sew a few stitches in the eyebrow. He had not heard anything about a possible request to take on Machida in February.
Dan is saying on twitter his knee is good but it doesn't really matter, Machida would beat both of them, he landed on Jones he can land on Gus and Hendo's too slow for the Dragon.
...Sounds good. Very good. I love how the divisions blow up at any moment with changing of the guard fights and title defenses. Joe Silva must be drooling over the possible future match-ups. Last night's event opened a ton of doors in multiple divisions and was one of the best events of the year. Lyoto vs. Gus would be pretty interesting. The match-ups in the near future are going to be even more mindblowing. Benson was on point last night. Great performance. I really hope he faces Pettis again. That would be a sick war. MacDonald vs. Condit 2 would be a crazy war. The divisions are filling up with complete "new breed" fighters which are blowing minds and taking over...
...Sounds good. Very good. I love how the divisions blow up at any moment with changing of the guard fights and title defenses. Joe Silva must be drooling over the possible future match-ups. Last night's event opened a ton of doors in multiple divisions and was one of the best events of the year. Lyoto vs. Gus would be pretty interesting. The match-ups in the near future are going to be even more mindblowing. Benson was on point last night. Great performance. I really hope he faces Pettis again. That would be a sick war. MacDonald vs. Condit 2 would be a crazy war. The divisions are filling up with complete "new breed" fighters which are blowing minds and taking over...
Mike Goldberg effect. He kept going on and on with the changing of the guard stuff last night and it's not the 1st reference i've seen tonight on the board. :thumb02:
Gustafsson has a good chin, but he fights real sloppy. I don't know if it's because I just got done watching Rory pick apart BJ with crisp and accurate striking. But Gus just looked real sloppy when fighting top level guys.
Rory was fighting a BJ that just stood there and took those punches. No foot work at all. Shogun's foot work was real good last night. Circling and going in and out to land his shots. Totally different scenario there.
Mike Goldberg effect. He kept going on and on with the changing of the guard stuff last night and it's not the 1st reference i've seen tonight on the board. :thumb02:
Seriously that was annoying as ****. Kept hearing that all night and now on here...
Both fighters took some big shots last night. It was a great fight. Not sure how people think he got a small chin. He took some big shots from Shogun and came back like it was nothing.
I think Machida is a bad matchup for Gus. I did not say Gus would or could not win though.
If Machida hits Gus he can do that Rush blitz that he does. Gus does not have the wrestling of Jones so Machida can really close in on him. Machida has the footwork needed.
I think Gus wins rather easily similar to the Shogun fight. As long as he doesn't get KO'd which I guess is always possible with Machida. His size will give Machida problems.
Machida was the first person to get past the reach of Jon Jones which is longer than Gus' and rocked him and he's the only person whose ever KO'ed Rashad Evans. He's also not a sloppy brawler like Shogun is, Machida actually throws stuff besides wild haymakers.
I don't think Machida has an issue with size. His karate style allows him to get under his opponents shots and get out again. I see it going to Machida convincingly, hopefully by KO.
I'd pick Gustaf over Machida. It'll be very competitive, but for all of Machida's technical ability, he doesn't deal with power too well. And Gus will land.
It'll stay standing, they'll both have good moments, but Gus' strikes will be more effective. I expected him to outpoint Shogun but I did not expect him to take the shots that he did... he is a very worthy replacement for Rua because like him, he's not just a great fighter but a very tough and powerful man.
I also think Gustafsson might get knocked out by Machida. Jones vs Machida round 1 showed Machidas accuracy. The thing that kept Machida at bay vs Jones was of course not Jones footwork but his wrestling. Every guy knows Jones fantastic clinch, takedowns and ground and pound. They avoid his clinch like the plague.
Against Gustafsson Machida would be able to come in closer because Gustafsson does not have great top game yet. Evene Rua with his average footwork was able to land big punches against Gus imagine what the quick legged Machida could do.
I also think Gustafsson might get knocked out by Machida. Jones vs Machida round 1 showed Machidas accuracy. The thing that kept Machida at bay vs Jones was of course not Jones footwork but his wrestling. Every guy knows Jones fantastic clinch, takedowns and ground and pound. They avoid his clinch like the plague.
Against Gustafsson Machida would be able to come in closer because Gustafsson does not have great top game yet. Evene Rua with his average footwork was able to land big punches against Gus imagine what the quick legged Machida could do.
Many of the exchanges in this fight were take some to give some, Shogun had success because he of his hard head and fearlessness. I think Machida will try to kick Gus a lot but when he gets close to punch, I can't see him taking too many counters. Which Gustaf WILL land.
Shogun hit him HARD multiple times with big overhand rights, and Gus didn't even move. He just kept going like it was a light jab. I never seen anyone take shots like that from Shogun and not even flinch, that was ridiculous.
I can see Machida beating him for sure, but not by KO, I don't see anyone in the division clearly KOing him after last night, that was insane.
Very interesting fight, both guys have the technique to defeat the other. Gustaf is a very good game planner and adjusts his style of fight to the opponent. Machida has a huge skill advantage but he's got very little in the way of defense. If Gustaf doesn't finish this could be a very bad fight which leads to booing and a split decision.
I'd love to see this fight. You can't really use the Shogun fight as a basis for how Gus would fight Machida he clearly just has that crazed animal mode in him like Shogun and both guys were frenzied and brawling because of it. The most interesting part of this matchup is that Lyoto's style does make him vulnerable to guys with good footwork who can cut off the cage and Gus can do that. That doesn't mean he would win though I think it is a tossup.
I don't like this fight because it's going to knock out another contender. With Shogun it's fine because Shogun had a helluve war against Hendo, surprisingly against Vera, and of course again last night. The bout against Gustaf already confirmed what I felt...Shogun's tactics simply will not work in a modern era of MMA. His conditioning usually fails em as well. With Machida, he was already given the title shot, unfortunately he didn't take it. If Gustaf wins and moves on to fight the LHW title holder and loses that leaves only Glover cuz both Shogun and Machida were beat by em.
I don't mind the match up all, it's just the timing. If it does happen though I hate to say it, but Gustaf has the edge. He's extremely agile for his size, lanky, accurate, and has powerful striking.
Machida's key is to counter precisely. In fact, both adopt a fairly similar strategy of utilizing movement. I hope Hendo heals up cuz that's a much easier match up to call.
Out of everyone currently in the LHW division Gustaf is a legitimate threat to the throne. If he's shored up his takedown defense and grappling then it'll be a very interesting fight against the LHW title holder.
Starting to get genuinely annoyed at these faux Title contendership/eliminator fights. I'd like to see Gustaf fight JBJ. I just don't think he'd win. What I do believe is that he deserves the title fight. As I'm writing this I'm considering a Machida/JBJ fight. If Machida loses, then JBJ beats Gustaf, where next for JBJ?
As for the Machida/Gustaf fight. I can see it going either way. I don't believe Machida will knock him out though. Not after taking those shots from Rua. Gustaf can win this fight by being more active then Machida on the feet, staying away from the straight punching counters, and scoring the odd trip takedown which as you all know, Machida is also pretty adept at.
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