Lyoto Machida formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he was a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as a UFC Middleweight Championship title challenger, and in the Bellator MMA.
74 Facts About Lyoto Machida
2.
Lyoto Machida began training in sumo wrestling at the age of 8, and then BJJ and boxing at sixteen.
3.
Lyoto Machida won a number of amateur karate tournaments, including the 2001 Pan American Karate tournament.
4.
Lyoto Machida defeated American fighter and jiu-jitsu black belt Rafael Lovato Jr.
5.
Lyoto Machida's older brother Chinzo is a Shotokan karate champion and MMA fighter, who fights in Bellator MMA.
6.
Lyoto Machida trained at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Dojo for six months in 2003 where he lived with future WWE Superstars Shinsuke Nakamura and Bryan Danielson.
7.
Lyoto Machida began his career in mixed martial arts under the management of legendary professional wrestler and MMA pioneer Antonio Inoki in Japan.
8.
Lyoto Machida was discussed by Inoki as a symbolic "successor" figure for himself, as Naoya Ogawa and Kazuyuki Fujita had been in the past.
9.
In front of over 40,000 fans at Kobe Wing Stadium, Lyoto Machida defeated Franklin via TKO in the second round.
10.
Lyoto Machida staggered Franklin with a counter left punch and knocked him down with a front kick to the face, finishing up with punches which forced the referee to stop the fight.
11.
When K-1 began promoting Hero's, a series of fight cards featuring only MMA bouts rather than cards mixed with kickboxing matches, Lyoto Machida was transferred there.
12.
Lyoto Machida made his UFC debut on the preliminary card of UFC 67 against Sam Hoger and won by unanimous decision.
13.
Lyoto Machida was expected to fight Forrest Griffin at UFC 70, but Griffin became ill with a staph infection and was replaced by undefeated David Heath, whom Machida beat by unanimous decision.
14.
Lyoto Machida next faced judo practitioner and Pride Fighting Championship veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 76.
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Lyoto Machida won by unanimous decision and Nakamura would later test positive for marijuana.
16.
At UFC 79, Lyoto Machida faced Sokoudjou, a judo practitioner making his UFC debut after back-to-back upset knockout victories over Pride veterans Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona.
17.
Lyoto Machida submitted Sokoudjou with an arm triangle choke at 4:20 of the second round.
18.
Lyoto Machida's next fight was at UFC 84 against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz, in what was thought to be Ortiz's final UFC appearance after a dispute with UFC President Dana White.
19.
Years after the bout, Dana White revealed that the only time he ever awarded a personal check of his to a fighter was to Lyoto Machida, for defeating Ortiz.
20.
UFC President Dana White indicated in the pre-fight press conference that Lyoto Machida would receive a title shot with a victory, while Silva would need to defeat Lyoto Machida and win one more contest before earning the same opportunity.
21.
Lyoto Machida was able to knock down Silva twice during the first round before ultimately knocking him out after tripping him and jumping in landing the knockout punch at 4:59 of the first round, scoring his first UFC knockout victory and winning his first Knockout of the Night bonus award.
22.
Lyoto Machida then met Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans in another clash of undefeated fighters on the main event of UFC 98.
23.
Lyoto Machida scored an early knockdown in the first round and ultimately knocked Evans out with a flurry of punches at 3:57 of the second round, becoming the tenth UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
24.
Lyoto Machida's performance earned him Knockout of the Night honors with a $60,000 bonus for the second time.
25.
Lyoto Machida was expected to face Quinton Jackson in his first title defense, but Jackson opted to coach the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter instead.
26.
When Rampage tried to retaliate, Lyoto Machida scored a takedown, eventually gaining full mount and attempted a submission.
27.
Lyoto Machida was then set to face UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture on 30 April 2011, at UFC 129.
28.
Lyoto Machida's kick received praise for being similar to the Crane kick featured in the 1984 movie The Karate Kid.
29.
Lyoto Machida was then briefly linked to a rematch with Rashad Evans at UFC 133, replacing an injured Phil Davis.
30.
However, Dana White claimed that Lyoto Machida wanted "Anderson Silva money" for taking the fight on short notice and the UFC decided to schedule Tito Ortiz for the fight with Evans.
31.
Lyoto Machida was in talks to face Phil Davis, but the fight did not happen due to Davis needing more time to recover from knee surgery.
32.
Lyoto Machida then faced The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner Ryan Bader on 4 August 2012, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 4.
33.
Lyoto Machida defeated Henderson via split decision, but ultimately Alexander Gustafsson was given the title shot against Jon Jones.
34.
Lyoto Machida returned to his native Brazil to face Phil Davis on 3 August 2013, at UFC 163.
35.
Fightmetric analysis shows that while Davis landed more total strikes, Lyoto Machida landed the more significant strikes.
36.
Dana White announced on 21 August 2013, during Fox Sports Live that Lyoto Machida would be dropping down to the middleweight division.
37.
Lyoto Machida was expected to face Tim Kennedy on 6 November 2013, on the main event of UFC: Fight for the Troops 3.
38.
However, Lyoto Machida was pulled from the bout and was set to face his friend and training partner Mark Munoz on 26 October 2013, at UFC Fight Night 30, replacing Munoz's original opponent Michael Bisping, who was forced out of the bout with an eye injury.
39.
Lyoto Machida defeated Munoz via head kick KO at the 3:10 mark of the first round, earning him his fourth Knockout of the Night award.
40.
Lyoto Machida was praised for demonstrating class and sportsmanship by not throwing any additional punches to the grounded Munoz after knocking him down before the referee stopped the fight.
41.
Lyoto Machida became a free agent after the bout, and after entertaining offers from various promotions he re-signed with the UFC.
42.
Lyoto Machida won the fight via unanimous decision after five rounds, earning his second Fight of the Night bonus award.
43.
Lyoto Machida was then expected to get a title shot against the winner of the UFC 173 fight between UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.
44.
However, after Belfort withdrew from the bout on 28 February 2014, it was announced that Lyoto Machida would replace him in the main event UFC 173 on 24 May 2014.
45.
Lyoto Machida landed a number of hard strikes in the round including a left hook which stunned Weidman at the very end of the round.
46.
Lyoto Machida would continue to find success striking early in the fifth as well.
47.
Lyoto Machida won the fight via TKO only 62 seconds into the first round after landing a body kick that dropped Dollaway, finishing him with a barrage of punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.
48.
Lyoto Machida faced Luke Rockhold on 18 April 2015, at UFC on Fox 15.
49.
Lyoto Machida lost the fight via submission in the second round after being dominated on the ground by Rockhold throughout the whole of the fight.
50.
Lyoto Machida faced Yoel Romero on 27 June 2015, at UFC Fight Night 70.
51.
Lyoto Machida stated that he was unaware that the substance was prohibited both in and out of competition.
52.
Lyoto Machida was ultimately suspended for 18 months by USADA, becoming eligible to return on 8 October 2017.
53.
On 13 August 2016, Lyoto Machida faced former Strikeforce middleweight champion and UFC welterweight contender, Jake Shields, in a grappling only benefit event called Submit Cancer.
54.
Lyoto Machida lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
55.
Lyoto Machida faced Eryk Anders on 3 February 2018 at UFC Fight Night 125.
56.
Lyoto Machida won the fight via split decision, snapping his 3-fight losing streak.
57.
Lyoto Machida faced Vitor Belfort on 12 May 2018 at UFC 224.
58.
Lyoto Machida won the fight via knock-out in the second round.
59.
On 22 June 2018, it was reported that Lyoto Machida signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA.
60.
On 4 April 2019, it was announced that Lyoto Machida would be facing Chael Sonnen in a light heavyweight bout at Bellator 222 on 14 June 2019 at Madison Square Garden.
61.
Lyoto Machida won the fight via TKO in the second round.
62.
Lyoto Machida rematched prior UFC opponent Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 228 on 28 September 2019.
63.
Lyoto Machida headlined Bellator 245 in a rematch against Phil Davis on September 11,2020.
64.
On February 9,2021, it was announced that Lyoto Machida would be participating in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix.
65.
Lyoto Machida lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
66.
Lyoto Machida uses a unique, unorthodox style in MMA that combines elements from his diverse training background.
67.
Lyoto Machida's style is based mainly on tactics using Shotokan karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but integrates techniques from wrestling and sumo, which Machida says makes him "fully prepared for any situation" in the Octagon.
68.
Lyoto Machida has earned considerable respect from MMA fans, fighters, and commentators for his effectiveness and winning ways.
69.
Lyoto Machida has drawn fire from fans, and criticism from MMA commentators for his limited aggression and many decision victories.
70.
Lyoto Machida defied expectations at UFC 94, where he earned Knockout of the Night honors for his first-round stoppage of then-undefeated Thiago Silva.
71.
Lyoto Machida noted that he started to include weight training in his preparation for the bout.
72.
Lyoto Machida said that the karate seen nowadays has lost many techniques over the years in which it was practiced, and that his style was one of the very few that still kept those techniques.
73.
Lyoto Machida is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Walter Broca.
74.
Lyoto Machida's wife is named Fabyola, and they have two sons named Taiyo and Kaito.