Yea, i was also really looking forward to seing him fight Gus. But i honestly think that he dodged Mousasi because he knew exactly what threat he was facing and that Gegard was relatively unknown in the states, so he didnt want to roll the dice and end up getting stretched out by a "unknown", especially when he was trying to lobby for a title shot.
And while Machidas standup does give him a punchers/kickers chance of winning(he clearly does have KO power in his striking), i think its slim since the guy in front of him is trained to take advantage of every little hole that strikers will leave in front of him, and Machidas striking has about more holes than i can possibly think of ... and mark my words Machidas striking isnt going to throw any top level striker off, the best striker he beat was Hendo, who we both know has a HUGE right hand, but is nowhere near being an elite striker, and that fight went to a split decision in which machida ran most of the time. Shogun is the best striker he has faced, and he put machida to sleep in the first.
Machidas stand up isnt bad, it'll get him past plenty of guys in the UFC, but honestly, i think everytime he ends up facing an elite striker, not only is he going to lose, he's going to end up getting KTFO, all because of that quirky style of his.
I want to say that it'll be a close fight too, but i truly think the fight is going to end just like the Shogun fight did, right when he leaves an opening in his striking game(which he does A LOT), hes getting put away. He isnt facing some ho-hum wrestler who learned how to strike a year or two ago or a BJJ guy who just figured out how to throw a punch ...
and the fact that Mousasi is a true middleweight, but has moved up and knocked out guys in the light-heavyweight and heavyweight division is fucking impressive.
/End of my nuthugging rant, lol.
