Shogun studies Machida's game for UFC 104

photo from sherdog.com

I blogged about the upcoming light-heavyweight title fight between champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua recently, saying it should be interesting to see if/how they alter their styles in the fight.

from mmajunkie.com:
"I know Lyoto very well," Rua said. "I have studied his game a lot. I know his style. I trained my strategy for the fight for three months in a row, focusing on that.

"I hope to be able to keep up with the strategy for the whole fight because we know what to expect, and we don't plan on getting frustrated and changing the plan. We worked on that, and we'll follow the plan."

The 2005-era Rua was an aggressive, wild foe. But in facing Machida's patient, karate-based counter-striking style, Rua believes his own patience will be key.

It may prove a test of the mind as much as an examination of Rua's physical form.

"We can only know for sure what's going to happen when the fight starts," Rua said. "You never really know what's going to happen in a fight. You can try to predict something, but anything can happen. Anything can change at any given moment during a fight.

"I trained for something. I plan and hope on doing what I trained and the strategy I prepared for, but a fight is a fight. Let's wait and see."