Ricardo Arona: I can beat Lyoto Machida

by Jesse Holland on Sep 8, 2009 9:41 AM EDT

Quoteworthy:

"I always thought the cage was even better for my game. I like to use elbows on the ground, which I couldn’t do in Pride. Of course, I would love to fight in the UFC, because it’s for sure the best event, but I’m also studying some other proposals. I’m waiting calmly for my time. I’m ready to do my best in the ring or in the cage. (Lyoto Machida's) defending Brazil well in the MMA world, and I respect him a lot, but if I get into the UFC and have to fight Lyoto, I’d go to win. He’s a great champion, but if I’m well-trained, I know my potential; I can beat anyone."

--Former PRIDE light heavyweight standout and ADCC champion Ricardo Arona prepares for his Sept. 12 bout against Marvin Eastman at "Bitetti Combat" from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 12. The Brazilian has not seen action since a knockout loss to Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at Pride 34: "Kamikaza" in April 2007. It was his third loss in four fights — a tough stretch for a very talented fighter. A win over "The Beastman" could be the beginning of a career resurrection for "The Brazilian Tiger," but is it a bit too soon to be mention names like Lyoto Machida?

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This guy is a loser. No steroids allowed in ufc Ricardo!

by Horny for Gina on Sep 8, 2009 9:43 AM EDT reply actions

loser?~ fock that!~

“this guy” is one of the most overdue unsigned[ufc] fighters out there..

arona should have been in the ufc back when they bought pride, if not before..

by stinky~fingers on Sep 8, 2009 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions

The problem wiht Arona is that he hasn’t fought at all in like 2 years and hasn’t had a respectable win in 3 years. He’s lost 3 of his last 4 fights as well. The guy used to be the goods but I wouldn’t be calling out Lyoto with that kind of resume.

by Buster Bluth on Sep 8, 2009 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn’t call him a loser. You know he is unbeaten in ADCC and has few great victories. He is one of the few who could actually beat Machida. Others are Shogun, Mousasi and A. Silva

by Lappish Shaman on Sep 8, 2009 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Arona could beat Lyoto – it would be a boring fight with a lot of top game control, but I definitely think he could get the job done once the fight went to the ground.

by ScissorSweep on Sep 8, 2009 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Not only unbeaten but no one has scored one point on him yet.

by NameNotRequired on Sep 8, 2009 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

He’s also the only fighter who can actually claim to have beaten Fedor in RINGS. Anyone who’s seen that fight knows he got robbed and i am big fedor fan.

by NameNotRequired on Sep 8, 2009 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Arona against Belfort, T.silva, Jardine, Wandy or Franklin may be good fights he might have a 50/50 chance at best right now…I would say less but machida? I guess anybody can say anything to gain fame.

by Puck Head on Sep 8, 2009 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions

he is a solid fighter with great wins over top fighters so its not far fetched that he could hang with machida, win i dout and he has been out for awhile so he has a long way to go before worrying about fighting machida.

by roy on Sep 8, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Arona vs Fedor was in RINGS where there was no GnP. Still, I’m a huge Fedor fan too and I think Arona won. But officially he didn’t.

Anyways, Arona’s style is perfect for the UFC. He’s 100% right. I don’t like his style, but its effective.

by Bob Lawblah on Sep 8, 2009 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions

I seen him beat wandy then lose to Rua back in the Pride tourney when Rua was the man as was Wandy Arona is a tough fighter but what has he been up to lately? Would like to see him in the UFC he has fought some great fighters and would add more depth and you would think Strikeforce would be looking for a decent LHW contender with proven experience but with his time off I think machida is a to much.

by Puck Head on Sep 8, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions

ARONA IS a loser, what he has lost like 3 of his last 4, and sokodju who isnt even good enough to be in the UFC, knocked him out in like 3 seconds. yeah keep on dreaming, evry loser, says they can beat the champ, but talk is cheap.

by curly on Sep 8, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Sorry don’t see it happening. However, I wouldn’t mind him in the mix of the division. makes for some interesting matches

by getrawbc on Sep 8, 2009 9:49 AM EDT reply actions

I dont see it either, but he’d be a great addition to the roster.

by attakdog on Sep 8, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Any speculation as to why such a talented fighter is not with the UFC?

by OJR on Sep 8, 2009 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Dunno, it always baffled me why Lil Nog and Arona weren’t instantly snapped up when Pride folded.

by attakdog on Sep 8, 2009 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions

because they didn’t have the right mentality back then, they were overrated coming off of losses and would have been to expensive as guys the UFC didn’t even need..

Arona needs to make sure he passes the roid tests if he signs with the UFC or say Strikeforce..

by RoBerto on Sep 8, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions

same here attakdog~ there was alot of good fighters that didn’t make the move to the ufc, when they bought pride..

arona, lil nog, gomi, fedor, overeem, aleks… to name a few..

by stinky~fingers on Sep 8, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Stinky-

Overeem is obvious.

As far as the others, maybe contract demands were too high?

Talent never comes cheap…

by OJR on Sep 8, 2009 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions

contracts r most likely the reason.

or maybe the ufc wasn’t interested?

who knows?..

im glad to see lil nog finally in the big show!~

by stinky~fingers on Sep 8, 2009 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions

I train with guys that are his friends from Brazil – they were all dissapointed with his decision to step away from mma for so long, but they all cited the same reason for his absence – - – he just wanted to surf and smoke weed for a while.

by ScissorSweep on Sep 8, 2009 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions

UMMM NO! All Machida regardless how good HE thinks HE is!

by MMAKilla on Sep 8, 2009 9:58 AM EDT reply actions

i dont think so tim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

by jbone on Sep 8, 2009 10:24 AM EDT reply actions

Arona’s been out of the game a bit too long for me to consider the possibility of him beating Machida, though he did give Fedor a good run for his money back in the day. I wonder why the UFC didn’t snatch him up right away when they bought Pride, he’s a very talented fighter.

by Belisarius on Sep 8, 2009 10:38 AM EDT reply actions

HAHAHHAHAHHAHA yeah right you can beat the best lhw in the world that’s why your fighting marvin beastman eastman cuz your so good HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAH

by TheDragon on Sep 8, 2009 11:20 AM EDT reply actions

Arona’s proudest moment was when he lay & prayed a decision over Wanderlei Silva. He’s a meh fighter at best and would be tooled by many LHW’s in the UFC. The UFC already got rid of one Thales Leites, they do not need another.

by Drake_Labatt on Sep 8, 2009 11:34 AM EDT reply actions

palhares is next to go.. i believe arona pulled that lay n pray shit on hendo too..

i dont get how people like this guy but bag on bader, arona has some of the most laying down fights i have ever watched he just dry humps his opponents til the decision.. don’t forget machida stops like 80% of takedowns, and pops right back up when taken down, arona would get tooled and lose by tko in round 1

by randy murders on Sep 8, 2009 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Machida this Machida that. No one is invincable. Somebody has Machidas number and Andys too. Time will come for both of these fighters. Shogun did pretty good against Arona.

by Danny_c on Sep 8, 2009 12:04 PM EDT reply actions