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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=233222" target="_blank">
Machida and Rua talk fight preparation
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=233222" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=60&q=75&x=48&y=1&w=310&h=165&ro=0&s=05491253-1D09-6BFC-E569FBE788ADF81C.jpg" /></a>
<strong class="ArticleSource">[sherdog.com]</strong>
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<blockquote>
Rua
“I never underestimated Shogun. I knew he was a tough fighter, and as you can see, it was a very tough fight. I never underestimate anybody and I didn’t underestimate Shogun. A fight’s a fight and you never know what’s going to happen until you get up there and start fighting.”
Rua
“I don’t feel any pressure at all (to finish this next fight). My goal whenever I fight is to give my best performance. That’s the pressure I put on myself and the only pressure I put on myself. I don’t think about controversy or any thoughts on what happened, because I think this can only hinder an athlete.”
Machida
“My strategy is to come in and be prepared to take the fight wherever it goes. There’s not too much that’s going to change. I’ve worked on certain areas of my game to improve, but for the most part, I’m going to come in and apply my strategy."
Rua
“Many people think that taking the fight to the ground and working the ground with Machida would be a good way to win the fight, but that’s a very hard thing to (do) because Lyoto is a very good player on the ground and he’s trained a lot of sumo and wrestling, so he has a very good base. Sometimes it’s very hard to get him down to the ground."
“When you prepare a fight, you have to focus on the worst situation you can go through in a fight. Fighting Machida, the toughest situation you can find is fighting him standing up.”