(by Geno Mrosko mmamania.com 5-1-11)
Not only did Randy Couture fail to solve the Rubik's Cube that is Lyoto Machida, the Rubik's Cube actually grew legs and faked him out with one and punted him in the head with the other.
"The Natural," widely regarded as the single greatest gameplanner in the history of MMA, had no answer for Machida, who has clearly evolved since dropping consecutive fights to Mauricio Rua and Quinton Jackson, respectively.
Machida made no bones about the fact that he was honored to have been chosen by the Hall of Famer to be his final fight. After such a legendary career, if nothing else, the Brazilian would earn added fame simply by association.
That was before the Crane kick, shades of "The Karate Kid."
Shortly into the second round, Machida sent Couture to the mat in a heap of sagging flesh, jarring his brain inside his skull and loosening up a few teeth in the process.
Unsurprisingly, Steven Seagal was just around the corner, ready to take his share of the credit. But does he deserve it? Let's hear it straight from "The Dragon's" mouth:
"This kick is from Karate, it's the Kanku Dai," Machida told Tatame.com. "When I started my preparation, after I did a hernia surgery, I couldn't do everything in training, so my father (Yoshizo) told me to train three or four types of kicks and use them in sparring, but very carefully, because they hurt a lot, it's like the elbow. When I came to Canada I met Steven Seagal, and he told 'Lyoto, this kick will hit.' But I wasn't worried to use it or not, I'd do it if the opportunity came. I came more relaxed to the second round and hit that. It's not like it came from nowhere. ... Everybody at the stadium called me ‘Karate Kid' after that (laughs)."
Seagal gets partial credit, at the very least.
No matter who is responsible for helping him train it, Machida is the man that actually went into the cage and executed it. This just a few short months removed from his stablemate, Anderson Silva, landing a similar kick in his fight against Vitor Belfort.
