Sherdog’s Top 10: Burglars

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10. Lyoto Machida

Machida’s fights generally have one of two outcomes. In the first case, he knocks out his opponent with a brutal kick or lightning-quick counterpunch and ends things emphatically in his favor. In the second, the Brazilian fails to land that single devastating shot, and his tendency to fight at extreme ranges while retreating minimizes his ability to continuously produce offense the judges can see and score. Dominating decisions are not Machida’s bread and butter, at least against top opposition; either he wins impressively or the proceedings are almost certain to be competitive.

This tendency first manifested itself at a high level against Mauricio Rua at UFC 104 in Machida’s first defense of the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title. Rua walked down Machida, landing a continuous stream of hard low kicks and shots in the clinch, while “The Dragon” countered with sharp knees to the body and lefts upstairs. While it was close, the consensus had the fight for Rua, and it was a surprise when the scorecards read unanimously for Machida.

The karate master’s patience and willingness to sit back and counter hurt him against Quinton Jackson at UFC 123 -- a fight Machida likely would have won handily had he shown a bit more aggression. He was lucky to walk away with a win over Dan Henderson in 2013, but that occasionally lackadaisical approach cost him a razor-thin loss to Phil Davis, as well. Less careful judges might have gotten him in trouble against Gegard Mousasi, too.

Machida has turned up the output and aggressiveness since he started working with Rafael Cordeiro, going so far as to exchange in the pocket with Chris Weidman. Let us hope his days of narrow, low-output decisions are behind him.

Number 9 » As the former Michigan State University wrestler’s skills have improved, namely the top game that allows him to control effortlessly on the ground, the narrow victories have grown less so.