Is Lyoto Machida the Second Instantiation of Royce Gracie?
Over at Sherdog.com, I ponder whether Lyoto Machida’s in-cage abilities and accomplishments will help spawn a renewed emphasis in traditional martial arts for MMA purposes and, if so, what would it take for that to happen and what such a revolution might look like: For brevity’s sake I am simplifying the historical record, but this is essentially where the chemical reactions began. Catch wrestlers picked up the guard game, strikers learned how to control posture and defend the takedown and wrestlers learned their over-under clinch to set up opportunities for knees, uppercuts and elbows. Another major transformation, should such a thing actually happen, will likely be far slower than the Gracie jiu-jitsu catalyst remaking the martial arts landscape in 1993. Part of it is that much of the known world is already conquered; there isn’t as much territory left to explore. Additionally, one must always remember that what the host country of the early UFCs could offer helped eventually mold th
