Royce Gracie Defends Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida Strategy

UFC "Hall of Famer" Royce Gracie has leapt to the defence of UFC champion, Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, proclaiming the Brazilian duo have executed the perfect strategies in their recent fights.

Speaking to Sherdog.com, Gracie said:

"I don't understand why people criticized (Silva) so much (against Thales Leites). He used a perfect strategy and wasn't hit in the whole fight, had a clean fight and won. Do we have rules? So let's fight under the rules. Why would he go there and fight until he rips his opponent's head off? ... Why would he expose himself? You have to use your mind."

"I like the guys who use strategy - these are the guys who are on the top: Lyoto, Anderson, GSP. They fight clean and take their opponents out of their own games ... Lyoto is one of the few guys that knows how to use strategy. Besides his karate and his ground game, he knows how to use strategy and that's what puts him on the top. I saw his victory over Rashad. He wasn't punched one single time in the whole fight and that's (the strategy)."

Gracie is set to attend the UFC 100 fan expo in two weeks time, much to the delight of hardcore UFC fans. As for Silva and Machida, they will be back in action again before the year is out. Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Forrest Griffin will be Anderson Silva's toughest test to date at UFC 101 on August 8th while Lyoto Machida will square off with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on October 24th at UFC 104.

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