Hughes on UFC 98 main event.
Editor-in-Chief May 30, 2009“I went back and watched the Rashad fight again, and I think it comes down to bad coaching. In the prefight press conference, I heard Rashad say that he didn’t bring anybody in who would resemble Machida’s style. When I heard that, I knew that there might be some problems. That is probably a big reason why Rashad didn’t do very well in the striking area. I also think Rashad should have been coached on using his wrestling talent. He didn’t shoot one takedown that I can remember and he just made it a sparring match. If I was to coach Rashad against Machida, I would have told him to make it a fight, use his wrestling and groundwork to really dictate the match. Not just go out and spar with him. I think Rashad could have done a lot better in that fight. I’m not saying he should have won, but he’s a lot better than he showed on Saturday.”
–Matt Hughes on the Machida/Evans bout
I also though Evans should have went for some takedowns as he was getting into some trouble. Greg Jackson is one of the best strategists in the game, and I’m sure they came up with a great gameplan for Machida; but the unorthodox nature of Machida is bound to throw off even the most stringent of gameplans. Jackson feels he’s picked up some tells on what Machida is about and hopes to use them if they get another crack at “The Dragon.”
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