First off, let me preface by saying that I think Machida is an immensely talented fighter and humble human being. He’s 13-0-0 in his professional fighting career, and makes everyone he fights look bad. Yes, he is awkward and difficult to watch at times, but nobody can dispute the effectiveness of his fighting style. If the goal of combat is to do as much damage as possible while taking as little as possible, Lyoto should be considered among the best. As good as he is, I think there are a few aspects of his game that can be exploited.

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The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are a professional rugby team from Sydney that have been training with Marcelo Rezende, black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. According to this artlcle on The Manly Daily, the training has improved their wrestling and ground control, and has yielded measurable results.

Rezende is a former Pan American champ, and set up the Gracie Barra in Australia. He’s taught a few other teams including the Sydney Roosters and the Brumbies, also from Australia.

I came across this article on strength training by Ross Enamait discussing strength training and theories on fast/slow twitch muscle development. Ross teaches training methods appropriate for fighters as opposed to the type of weight training that bodybuilders practice.

The gist of it is that strength training is the development of strength with the use of resistance. It’s a myth that lifting weights is an incorrect way to develop strength for combat athletes. Rather, it’s the way you train that can affect your results regardless whether you lift weights or use body weight.

Ross defines four types of strength:

• Maximal Strength – maximum force output under voluntary effort
• Explosive Strength – maximal forces in minimal times
• Speed Strength – quick execution of unloaded movement
• Strength Endurance – maintaining muscular function under stress over time

This video shows Georges St-Pierre, Denis Kang, and David Louiseau doing strength training in a balanced way. Notice that the coach in the video emphasizes that muscle contractions are always done as quickly as possible in an explosive manner, then he slows them down on the negative.

Also, check this video out for some training ideas to develop explosive power and speed:

Definitely one of the highlight matches from Dream 4 this weekend. Darren Uyenoyama fights out of San Francisco with Fairtex, Ralph Gracie, and the Skyline College wrestling team to thank for his well-rounded MMA stylings. A fairly young fighter with a 4-2-0 record, his performance on Sunday was impressive against a much more experienced Hideo Tokoro. Technical striking, chessmatch groundwork, and tremendous heart from both fighters made this fight very exciting to watch.

Look out for Uyenoyama’s tooth go flying at about 2:08.

There was talk of Mandy Moore’s loins burning for Georges St. Pierre, but it’s possible that the pop sensation wants a little Uncle Fester in her life instead. Yes that’s right, Mandy has Fester-in’ loins.

Word on the street is that Dana White and Mandy Moore have been kickin’ it together. And by kickin it, I mean sucking face and acting all couply. Anecdotal as this post may be, I trust my source.

Dana white is a lucky, lucky, bald, white man.