By Ron ‘The Yacman’ Yacovetti

ad•ap•ta•tion (ād'āp-tā'shən) n.
Change in behavior of a person or group in response to new or modified surroundings.

This weekend’s UFC 98 fight card is being headlined by one of combat sports’ rarest of bouts, an undefeated fighter taking on an undefeated fighter. I am already edging closer to the end of my seat cushion.

Equally impressive, is the fact that most journalists in MMA are on the fence about who will win, making predictions, if at all, with airs of caution, as if to say, “Look, don’t quote me on this…” That is what you call a tossup.

But is the reason so many people are torn on foretelling the victor, really because neither warrior has experienced losing? Perhaps this is a factor for some folks, though I find this aspect of the fight somewhat similar to offsetting penalties in football, they cancel each other out.

So what then, dare I say will make this match exciting as well as assist in the determination of a winner? – Styles.

We have all heard it before, “Styles make fights.” This UFC 98 main event is no exception. The most telling thing about the styles of both Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans is how they are dissimilar.

Evans is a modern day mixed martial artist; period. He is diverse, well-conditioned and very athletic. One does not make it to 13-0-1 by being anything less than well-rounded. However, his one draw against Tito Ortiz may serve as a red flag, should Machida’s unorthodox and elusive style have him guessing about what to try next.

I remember watching the Evans versus Ortiz bout wondering if Rashad had not been sent the memo stating that he was allowed to fight before round three. It seemed like a temp agency had sent Rashad in, with him doing the least amount of work for the maximum amount of pay.

For me, it took all three fantastic wins, over Bisping, Liddell and Griffin, to pretty-much erase that blemish that I felt, Rashad put on his own record. Nevertheless, he did delete it in my mind, and now moves into this bout as likely to win as Machida. So how then, does he do it?

Adaptation.

Throughout the course of boxing and cage-fighting history, unorthodox fighters like Machida have embarked upon win streaks that left fans wondering when it would, or how it could, end. Their flashy styles, mental preparedness and ability to out think their opposition made for some of sports’ greatest moments.

When I think about a Lyoto Machida, I also think of standouts like Cung Le, and boxing all-time great Roy Jones Jr. It is my firm belief that Roy Jones suffered his first real loss due to circumstances, including coming down from heavyweight too fast, losing muscle and not being the same man again at light-heavyweight again.

During his prime, Antonio Tarver or Glenn Johnson would not have likely beaten him. I simply do not believe it.

So the question in UFC 98 is, “Is Machida another super-athlete who will not lose to an orthodox mixed martial artist, instead losing eventually due to aging or an unforeseen intangible, like Roy Jones did?”

Rashad Evans will be taking on one of the toughest challenges he will see in the UFC. His fast and heavy hands will not as easily hit their target in this fight. His defense will be taxed like never before, as Machida unleashes the type of barrages a fighter rarely sees or trains with, in the cage.

It is my firm belief that if he can adapt to the style of Lyoto Machida, if he can make changes he will have to figure out in the midst of the fight, that Rashad Evans can win this match. Make no mistake about it too, this adapting by Evans, should he do it, will produce fireworks that will rival the Macy’s Fourth of July show, over the Hudson River, in New York City.

I also believe that in more cases than not, the unique and awkward fighters like Machida, rarely lose so close to their career’s prime. Talk about painting myself into an indecisive corner, right?

Bottom line is that atop one solid UFC fight card this Saturday night, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans will be doing what they are meant to do, fight the best opposition that they can. The mere fact that it is so difficult to predict is a testament to the quality of the matchmaking the UFC has done.

Will Lyoto Machida win and leave the entire light heavyweight division wondering what it is going to take to derail him? Or, will Rashad Evans adapt to his every move, outworking him and forcing Lyoto to fight his fight? Not so much time, will tell…

However, before we make our own picks on this fight, let us not forget the likelihood of an Evans quick and thunderous knockout early on in the bout, before Machida gets to find his stride. That would sure punctuate the “O” in Rashad’s record, likely moving it to the beginning of some expletives fans everywhere will be shouting, if it happens.

-Yacman
www.yacandjshow.com

By Ron 'The Yacman' Yacovetti - www.mogulus.com/wmma

 

When word spread that Nick Diaz, fresh off of beating MMA legend Frank Shamrock, is now calling out a boxing legend, Roy Jones Jr., I first wondered if Diaz would call out Lance Armstrong, considering he has competed in triathlons too.

There's no question Diaz displayed top notch boxing abilities in his one-sided victory over Frank Shamrock.

I too was taken aback by that. And in the same maiden voyage production for Strikeforce on Showtime, Benji Radach, in one writer’s opinion, displayed even better and more slick boxing skills in his instantaneous loss to Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. But can Nick Diaz hang with the likes of Roy Jones?

Jones has been inconsistent in his last four or so bouts. He’s beaten contenders he was expected to have trouble with or lose to, yet shows almost no killer instinct or offense when he soars up the ranks again, facing an “A” level guy like Joe Calzaghe.

A match with Diaz would be hard to peg on the Jones motivation scale. Let’s be honest, in the back end of Roy’s career, a lack of motivation has him as aggressive and violent as Gandhi.

In the prime of Roy Jones’ career, any mixed martial artist would be so outclassed in a boxing match that the viewing audience would wonder: Why? Why do this? His athletic ability ranks amongst the best all time in boxing. Period. This, by the way, a belief I share with The Fight Professor himself, Stephen Quadros.

That said, Roy Jones Jr. is not in his prime and is tricky to predict when he fights.

The real danger here is Jones still possesses the lightning quick hand speed, he still hits extremely hard (hard enough to have stopped a 235 lb. Ruiz in his tracks) and he can fight ten or twelve rounds without gassing.

We also know, Diaz can likely finish an entire boxing match with plenty of fuel in the tank, but what we don't know is, can Diaz take punches from a guy like Jones? It is safe to assume he has not yet, despite his boxing experiences and cage fighting career.

In a fight like this, I tend to believe that the sport of origin will win. In other words, if Jones vs, Diaz happens in a cage, Diaz wins…if it happens in a boxing ring as a boxing match, Jones wins.

It’s kind of that simple.

Diaz won’t be able to pull out an Oma-plata or dish out leg kicks against Jones. He will be left throwing hands with one of the most precise strikers of all time. Even an aged Jones will stupefy the best MMA fighter in a pugilistic battle.

The one thing I found intriguing about a Roy Jones versus Anderson Silva fight is that Silva, in MMA, displays the type of dominance and athletic superiority that Jones did in boxing. So the best of both world colliding is somewhat of an attention grabbing concept.

While Nick Diaz is amazing, tough and an elite level warrior, I almost feel a match against Jones is like hearing that my father-in-law laid out a championship golf challenge to Tiger Woods. It just seems out of reach.

Let us not forget that despite how amazing Nick looked against Shamrock, he was outboxed big time when he fought a KJ Noons for the EliteXC lightweight title.

So it’s difficult to imagine Noons picking him apart with fluid punch combinations and even an aged Jones being unable to do the same damage or worse to Diaz.

Do I feel this can hurt MMA if Jones destroys Diaz? No.

I think that fear is what kept Dana White and the UFC from allowing Anderson to fight Roy and in that case I do see their point. Silva is synonymous with the best of MMA, so watching the ambassador for the sport get wrecked in another combat sport "could" give artificial leverage to the boxing purists, who feel cage-fighters aren’t skilled like boxers.

One thing is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Nick Diaz is a true fighter. Anyone that would even consider fighting Roy Jones truly is an ‘any place, anytime’ kind of fighter.

With Strikeforce open to co-promotion and HBO Boxing not as in bed with Jones, as once they had been in his prime, we just may see Nick Diaz take on Roy Jones Jr. in what will hopefully be two talented fighters putting on one hell of a show.