Coaching Lyoto Machida: 5 Ways He Could Defeat Jon Jones at UFC 140

Psst! Mr. Machida. Come here. Listen carefully.

Here are five things you might consider before you step into the cage with Jon “Bones” Jones at UFC 140 on December 10. 

Think of them as a five-step plan—five ways to move up from your current fifth ranking to (possibly) become Light Heavyweight champ.

There are no guarantees, of course, and you know full well just how difficult putting away Jones will be.  But if you’re clever, patient, and thoughtful, you could pull off a stunning upset. 

And it’s not all about muscle and strength: Your state of mind and memory will play an important role, too.

These are five ways you might—just might—take that belt from the redoubtable Mr. Jones.

5. Think Positively and Remember Your Past Successes

Fighting Bones Jones is difficult for many reasons, not the least of which is that his record alone is incredibly intimidating. 

Bones is on a roll, seems unstoppable, and has battered some very strong, extremely skilled, and highly impressive fighters.

Just looking at the roster of Jones’s recent victims—Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera—is disconcerting. 

Dwelling on it could be disastrous.

The best way to counter Jones’ intimidating record is by remembering some of your own impressive victories. Don’t gloat and self-congratulate.  Remember, you’ve recently lost to two men Jones dispatched with relative ease—Jackson and Rua. 

But you’ve earned three terrific Knockout of the Night awards against Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans, and Randy Couture, all remarkable fighters themselves. 

To defeat Jones, you might very well need to win a fourth Knockout of the Night award.  Don’t underestimate the power of positive thinking.

4. Kick the Bambi Legs

Remember Rampage Jackson’s comment before his fight with Jones? “You look at those Bambi legs and wonder what happens when I hit him.”

Seems a bit silly now, I know, since those same legs delivered enough nasty strikes and wicked jabs to Jackson’s body to help Jones secure an easy enough victory.

But don’t dismiss Jackson’s “diss” too quickly.

Jones does appear to have (relatively) spindly legs and we don’t really know how strong they are since Jackson failed to hit them hard or often enough.

But you, Mr. Machida—you can kick.  Perhaps Jackson was right; perhaps not.  You now have the opportunity to test Rampage’s hypothesis.

3. Once Upon a Time, You Were Jones: The Importance of Psychology

You’ve been where Jon Bones Jones now stands.

Like Jones’s, your rise was meteoric.  You walked into the LHW division and trounced everyone you fought. 

You didn’t just win, you won convincingly, and in style.  You had that aura, that glow of invincibility that now hovers around Jones.

And then ... then you lost to Rua.  But that loss helped focus you, gave you clarity of thought and purpose, the sort of clarity that the aura of success can cloud.

Is Bones focused? If he’s listening to the patter around him, he might not be.

Instead of discussing how he’s going to beat you, Mr. Machida, people are talking about how Jones can cement his status as a top pound-for-pound fighter.

That discussion is part of the aura, the price to pay for being not just champ but a seemingly invincible one.

But that chit-chat about how to become the best pound-for-pound fighter might well be distracting for Jones simply because it is a conversation different from the one he should be having: how to ensure victory over Lyoto Machida.

Use your experience, your perspective, and the clarity losing has brought to your advantage and hope that Mr. Jones’ aura of invincibility distracts him from the task at hand. 

2. Points! Points! Points!

You’ve been hit hard by fans and commentators alike for trying to win on points, forsaking the decisiveness of the winning punch or tap-inducing submission in favor of the judges’ pens.

You’ve said you don’t care, that you just want to win.

Stick by your guns.  Frustrate Jon Jones; try to dictate the pace, the rhythm, the cadence of the fight. 

Jones hasn’t faced the opponent who can weave as well as you, who has the speed and agility to move away from those long, probing jabs.  This is where your technique might, just might be a match for Jones’ famed athleticism.

We’ve never seen a thoroughly frustrated Jon Jones.  If you can evade his reach—and by that I mean the reach of his feet as well as his hands—you could exasperate him.  Make it work for you.

It might not be pretty but the look of that belt is the same regardless of how you earn it.

1. Luck

Luck.

Every fighter is loath to admit he has had it but every fighter knows he needs it occasionally.

It comes in two forms.

There’s luck that can be made, at least in part. 

The punch that lands perfectly because positioning facilitated the connection.  A half inch either way, the power of the punch is diluted, but knowing how and when to get into position to increase the likelihood of the connection matters.

Then there’s blind luck, the sort of luck that’s quirky, a fluke; the kick that hits by chance the unknown weak spot. The sort of luck that makes the casual knee to the face hemi-powered or the sloppy elbow to the chops orbital-shattering.

But beware, Mr. Machida.  Luck doesn’t discriminate, does not favor. It smiles on those without reason, without explanation.  It is fickle and without apology. And that’s why it has been both the making and the undoing of many a champion. 

You—every fighter—knows that only too well.