Aesthetics of Trash Talking and a Fighter's Position

Chael Sonnen's quotes attract attention and produce what people demand. As martial artists or fighters sell self-skill, people demand "strong" and "tough" images. It is natural in the history of the fight scene.

Fighters often adopt different kinds of characters when they are in different countries. They react to market demand and change their character in individual countries because the market differs from place to place.

The idea of "Sports for sports" and "Martial arts for martial arts" only exists when fighters or trainers don't demand money or seek investors who don't want security. When speaking of pure sport without money, vision and a system of blame, it is problematic and such discussions often ignore awareness of that point.

"Sports for sports" is a totally new idea among the middle class. When people are very poor, sports can't exist. Organizations like Shooto, which pursued this concept, existed for Japan because of the country's economy. In other countries, the focus has been more on producing fighters for big events that lead to fame and financial gain.

Of course, sometimes people misunderstand things with the contradictions between sports and money, but whether trash talking is worth paying attention to or not is a totally different subject.

Chael Sonnen talked trash about Brazil and Anderson Silva, but often we found that he didn't believe what he was saying. Sonnen said his remarks were clearly inspired by pro wrestling and designed to try to sell PPVs. Do you believe Sonnen's excessive expressions destroyed Brazil and Silva's public images?

Regardless, certain people enjoyed it. Moreover, people miss the importance of position and stature in this sport.

For example, there is a huge difference between the income of a UFC champion and that of other fighters. Therefore, fighters like Sonnen and Frankie Edgar jumped at their recent chances to compete for titles, while Jon Jones was more defensive about defending his championship. Their positions are different.

When I interview fighters, I do so whether they've just had a dominant win, a tough decision win, a loss, become a champion or lost a belt. All positions affect how fighters comment through their quotes, so it can be difficult to find out a fighter's real personality when their position at the time affects how they respond.

That point is no different anywhere in the world, but that does not mean that the fighters have personality problems. Rather, it means that fans and journalists should try to find common beliefs from.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent (from MMA Rising) for English editing and Chris Nelson (from Sherdog) for English editing advise.

Who Can Solve the Ultimate Challenge?

Jon Jones has put together an absolutely fantastic record as a fighter. Through 15 fights, he has lost only once, via disqualification, and has finished his last five fights in vicious fashion while sustaining hardly any damage.

Lyoto Machida has been tabbed as Jones’ most interesting and, potentially, most dangerous opponent to date, but why? Is it because of Machida’s exotic crane kick? Here, we’ll break down the most interesting facet of this Saturday’s UFC light heavyweight title fight.

Perhaps the best aspect of Jones’ striking game is the variety which he uses to keep opponents guessing. It’s a merit which shines even more given Jones’ long-distance attack. Basically, Jones’ opponents can’t hit him because his reach is simply too long and his strikes are too unpredictable.

On the other hand, Machida is known for out-striking opponents from long range. His hand strikes aren’t exactly like boxing punches; his “tsuki” (thrust) comes with less shoulder motion, which benefits speed but causes less damage than punches thrown with more shoulder rotation.

Because of his karate-influenced technique, Machida isn’t as effective when fighting at short range. His losses to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson came when he was out-struck in close quarters. Both Shogun and Rampage pressured Machida in the pocket and struck from varying angles.

Jones’ extremely long frame his one of his greatest assets as a fighter, but we’ve never seen Machida lose when striking a long range. I’m most interested in whether the fight will play out from a distance.

At short range, we’ve seen less flattering sides of both fighters. As he did with Machida, Rampage got inside on Jones and found some success, but Jones’ long frame isn’t easy to control at short length either. With his wrestling base, Jones can shoot for strong takedowns when opponents get close enough. Machida will have had a tough time finding someone with Jones’ frame and grappling acumen to train with, so I will favor Jones at close range.

Machida has other strengths, such as the wicked front kick he used to knock out Randy Couture and other unpredictable karate tricks. Like Jones, he has a variety of strikes to keep opponents on their toes, which could lead to both fighters trying to trick one another with feints and fakes.

Of course, there is a chance the fighters won’t choose to trade from a far range. They may go for a takedown, choose to fight in the clinch, or utilize some other unexpected strategy. If it turns out like that, well, that’s the fun of this kind of fight.


Big thanks to Chris Nelson (from Sherdog) for English and editing.