Challengers Lyoto Machida, Alexis Davis go old school with pre-fight hype

LAS VEGAS – Mixed martial arts was built around concepts like honor and respect, both before and after a fight.

That was before Twitter and other en masse social media came along, though, and in this new era of the sport, many fighters are learning that a soundbite here and a locker room bulletin board quote there can do wonders when it comes to self-promotion and marketing.

Fighters like three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen even have been lauded for their ability to talk their way into title fights thanks to verbal-warfare skills.

But on Saturday, the UFC has a pair of title challengers who don’t buy into that trash-talking mentality. Lyoto Machida (21-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC), a former light heavyweight champion, meets middleweight champ Chris Weidman (11-0, 7-0) in the UFC 175 main event (10 p.m. ET, pay-per-view) at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. In the co-feature, Alexis Davis (16-5, 3-0) tries to unseat women’s bantamweight titleholder Ronda Rousey (9-0, 3-0).

Davis, in particular, believes being old school when it comes to talking may have impeded her rise to a title shot.

“I am kind of quiet and I don’t really speak up unless it’s time to speak up,” Davis tells MMAjunkie. “I think if I would’ve been a little more vocal earlier in my career, I would’ve gotten my chances a little bit sooner.”

Another part of the problem, she explains, is that when it comes to talking trash, well … she’s just not very good at it.

“It’s because if I try, I kind of sound like an idiot, and it’s just not who I am,” Davis says. “What am I going to say?”

Machida, from Brazil, has a long history in martial arts. His family even promotes its own brand of karate. For him, the old tenets of the sport ring true more than ever before.

“I try to show exactly what I am,” Machida says. “I’m always trying to sell the fight in a different way. I’m trying to sell the fight with the way I’m fighting in the octagon. I don’t want to be the guy offending my opponent before the fight.”

Not being vocal hasn’t hurt him, at least not in the way Davis believes it may have held her back. After a drop to middleweight, it took Machida only two wins to get a title shot.

Two fighters, a similar outside-the-cage marketing style, and two different results seems to be par for the course in MMA in 2014. As far as Davis is concerned, there’s room for just about every personality type, and the sport has an appropriate mix.

“I think it’s great,” she says. “Everybody’s different. It’s different personalities, and I love listening to guys like Chael. It’s entertaining.”

Whether or not she’d be willing to step up her own talking game with a title win, though, may be another story.

For more on UFC 175, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Lyoto Machida)