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Although UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva and former light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida have accredited Steven Seagal (Pictured) for some of their recent successes, the mixed martial arts community continues to use Seagal as the punch line in nearly every joke.

After posterizing Belfort at UFC 126 with the front-kick heard ‘round the world, Silva revealed he and Seagal had been in the lab perfecting the strike for quite some time. As if that weren’t enough, Seagal helped Machida retire Randy Couture with a similar shot two months later at UFC 129.

Is Sensei Seagal trying to take credit for creating the front-kick? Did he invent all kicks in general? As well as walking, talking and breathing?

Well, Seagal’s comments on Saturday probably won’t help his cause with MMA fans because he used the terms ‘WE’ and ‘US’ when discussing Silva’s win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 – as in he was an integral part of the champ’s victory. Granted Seagal was part of Silva’s 20-man entourage this weekend, but still…

“Happy as I could possibly be,” Seagal said on FUEL TV’s post-fight show. “[Anderson’s] my guy. He’s a wonderful athlete, a wonderful martial artist, great attitude. We worked hard for this, all of us, and we couldn’t be happier.

“We were expecting [for Sonnen to win the 1stRound.] If you’ll notice, and I’ve always said this, just because somebody’s on top of you doesn’t mean they’re winning. We wanted him to expend a lot of energy. We felt that Anderson just held him and was relaxing and [Sonnen] did nothing to him. He was just expending all his energy and that’s why in the 2ndRound, [Silva] was able to do what he did.”

How much credit Seagal should take for Silva’s accomplishments is debatable. However, what’s undeniable is the amount of respect “The Spider” shows Sensei Seagal.

The actor who starred in cult classics like “Out for Justice” and “Under Siege” is currently a 7th dan degree and Shihan in Aikido. Seagal moved to Japan in his late teens and became the first foreigner to operate an Aikido dojo in the country.