“At least one more time,” 44-year-old Lyoto Machida not ready to quit MMA yet

Former Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida want to fight at least one more time before making a decision on ending his MMA career.


 “At least one more time,” 44-year-old Lyoto Machida not ready to quit MMA yet

Lyoto Machida hopes to fight at least one more time (Image Courtesy - The Independent)

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida appeared at a panel discussion for UFC 287 with George St-Pierre, Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort. Machida gave his thoughts on the main event fight between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya. Taking into account his training with Pereira, he believed that Pereira could win the rematch at UFC 287. However, he also revealed his plans to fight once again.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said, “Yes, I would like to fight at least one more time, who knows, can be the farewell or something like that. So I am training pretty much every day because I love to train, it’s a part of my life. Martial arts is in my blood, but you never know. I train with the young guys, and I do sparring at least once a week, and I feel very good.”

Lyoto Machida has not fought since his loss to Fabian Edwards at Bellator 281 last year. Since entering Bellator in 2018, he put on a two-fight winning streak with a knockout victory over Chael Sonnen. However, Machida lost his next four fights since the Sonnen fight. He has confirmed that he is no longer with Bellator but would like to fight at least once more before he ends his legendary MMA career.

Spanning 20 years, Machida has fought the top competitions in the world with notable victories over Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz, Ryan Bader and Gegard Mousasi. Fight fans want to see the legendary fighter fight for one final before the 44-year-old quits on his MMA career.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related: “It’s not easy to land a kick like that”- Lyoto Machida is amazed by Michael Chandler’s head kick knockout of Tony Ferguson

Lyoto Machida secured an amazing Knockout in last UFC fight

Lyoto Machida
Lyoto Machida (Image Courtesy – MMA News)

The legendary Brazilian fighter took on Vitor Belfort in 2018 in a three-round fight at UFC 224. Belfort is also a former Light Heavyweight champion like Machida, and the fight was a dream fight for most fans. The fight did not last long, but Machida gave fight fans a moment to remember.

The first round did not yield much action from the fighters as they felt each other out to time each other’s strike and manage the distance. However, in the second round, Machida landed a front kick at the one-minute mark that knocked out Belfort to claim the win. The knockout was among the Knockout of the Year contenders in 2018.

After the fight, Belfort never fought again in MMA and has since moved to box. Machida went to fight in Bellator, where he has a 2-4 record. Machida has not announced retirement because he trains regularly and hopes to fight once more before retirement.  

ADVERTISEMENT

In Case You Missed It!