Lyoto Machida has an advantage over Mauricio shogun.

First off I would like to say that is very unfortunate that I could not post my first argument. I hope this debate is interesting and opens up a bigger door for people to start watching this fantastic sport. With that said I will begin. I strongly agree that Lyoto "The dragon" Machida has a strong advantage over Mauricio "shogun" Rua I would like to start by saying that I think Mauricio is an awesome fighter, with amazing victories over some of the best fighters such as Chuck Lidell, Forrest Griffin, and Rampage Jackson, etc. However I think that he is not hardly a match up for his upcoming fight. PRESSURE My opponents first point, says that Lyoto Machida is at a dis-advantage due to heavy pressure of defending his title. I would have to dis-agree, and say it is quite the opposite. Machida, after winning a spectacular win over previously undefeated champion, Rashad Evans, has maintained the title. After winning three consecutive fights in a row achieving his title, he would should be feeling VERY confident on the contrary. It should be the opposite seeing as Mauricio is coming in the octagon to get the belt. He has made it this far, and losing would put him back where he started. Losing is most definitely something that would be good for him. Machida, on the other hand, has no reason to believe that he cannot win this fight like he has in the past few UFC fights. BRAZILLIAN JIE-JITSU Machida is a second generation Japanese-Brazilian jie-jitsu artist, where-as Shogun is a first generation. This in no way limits shogun, however certain factors apply into each. Machida started training for Brazilian jie-jitsu at age 13. Rua's training however started at the age of 17. Again this in no way limits his JJ abilities, however it also shows that Machida has been more experienced in the area. As my opponent said, Machida trained under the art of Royce Gracie Jie-jitsu, which has been proved to be the most effective Jie-jitsu training program in the world. This would give Machida an also bigger advantage if ground game comes into play. However, one thing that makes Shogun more efficient, is his ability to hold out a submission. With his exceeding strength, it allows him to pull rear naked chokes, and other such submissions with ease. He has a considerable amount of strength with his submissions. Machida's skill = higher + Rua's reliability on strength = higher. = Most likely the same advantage. I am in agreement with my opponent on this one, however the experience factor might make a huge deal of difference if the fight is taken to the ground. RECORD Lyoto's record is undisputed. However, there is also to be looked at that Rua has been in more UFC fights than Lyoto. He has a different level of experience. The amount of wins a person has should not factor into this debate though, because in a fight anything can happen to cause a loss. COMPETITION Gotta love wikipedia ;-) I would have to argue that this would not be an advantage for Rua. Rua has more experience in the octagon, where-as Machida has more experience with MMA. Rua simply being in the octagon longer has given him the opportunity to fight differing, hard opponents. Unlike Machida who is still fairly new to UFC, and has had a considerably less amount of fight time. We couldn't assume that Machida also couldn't bring the same game into a fight with one of Rua's opponents. Another thing to be looked at, is that all of Lyoto's big wins, were from belt holders, where as Rua's were only mainly formers. I would have to say advantages go to Machida here. CHIN This shouldn't factor into an overall advantage of the fight. Machida usually gets hit, 2-3 times each round due to his elusive and awkward style. His main tactic is to wait and see his opponents moves, so he can pace himself to that exact striking movement. This being a factor, shows that if machida's can elude Rua, then it would not matter if Rua has a strong chin or not. STYLE Again, gotta love wiki! I agree entirely with this point though. However, having more knowledge in more than one area also limits you to the complete focus on one area. I would say that it would be a good thing and a bad thing for Rua to have less experience in the more than few MMA events. Having only to focus on effective striking, kicking, and submissions, works to his advantage because he has had more training then Machida may have in the other two (not counting jj). Advantage, slightly Machida. And as to Rua's loss to griffin in the ultimate fighter. Yes there was a slight advantage in size for Griffin, but what Rua lacked in size, he makes up for with power. While the fight was still standing up, Mauricio displayed an awesome fight. It wasn't until the fight was taken to the ground, that his JJ failed him, and he was brought to an immediate loss to Griffin. JJ advantage= Machida. http://en.wikipedia.org... http://en.wikipedia.org... http://fiveouncesofpain.com... http://www.ufc.com...