Lyoto Machida Looks To Erase Doubts Against Mauricio Rua at UFC 113

Officially, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida boasts an undefeated record of 16-0. Following his most recent outing against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 104 many observers felt that the five round decision could have gone in Rua's favor.

This time around, the phenom known as "The Karate Kid" looks to turn in a much more convincing performance as he takes on Rua, once again, in the main event of UFC 113: Machida vs Rua II  this Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

It seemed as though the moment that Machida was announced the victor in their original encounter back in October that most of the MMA world were clamoring for the two combatants to face off once again.

Machida welcomes the challenge.  

"This camp was great, I feel great and excited to get back in the cage. My training remains basically the same, we implement a game plan and build the routine around our game, but it consists of Machida Karate, wrestling, jiu jitsu and strength and conditioning work," Machida recently stated in an interview with Bleacher Report.

Clearly the first fight between the two is a thing of the past. Obviously Machida would rather spend his time focusing on the rematch, yet he still offered some thoughts on his last defense.

"I know that I won that fight, but now it’s the past, I am focused on this rematch and defending my Title.  I felt fine going five rounds, I train to go five rounds so I was conditioned to stay in the Octagon for that long ," said the Light Heavyweight Champion.

He would go on to add that, "Shogun is a tough guy, well rounded.  He followed his game plan and I followed my own, unfortunately I was unable to finish the fight.  There are many things you notice about your opponents while watching fights that you plan to exploit, but we have to wait and see how the fight plays out. I hope to fully implement my game and end the fight. "

One thing Machida will have to implement into his game this time around is an answer for the steady attack of leg kicks that Rua delivered. While Machida was never in any danger of being stopped, his ability to counter Rua seemed to fade away as the fight progressed.

Despite getting the win in a close decision, many fans of Machida viewed his initial defense against Rua as something of a letdown considering his spectacular KO win over Rashad "Sugar" Evans to become the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

Later this month, the UFC will feature another significant, and highly anticipated, fight in the light heavyweight division between former champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Evans.  

" That is a big fight in the 205 lb. division, two former champions facing off.  Theres been a lot of talk about this fight, both guys have said a lot, we will have to see who comes in stronger, it will be a great fight, " the champ declared.

When asked to look to the future regarding a match between the winner of Rampage and Rashad he made sure not to get ahead of himself with the challenge immediately in front of him.

"For now I want to focus on defending my belt, that is my priority," he said.

Not a bad idea considering how close the first fight was.

A focused Lyoto is exactly what it is going to take to ensure an impressive victory over Rua this Saturday to keep "The Machida Era" Alive.

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