MMA UFC

Lyoto Machida Not Slowing Down With Age, Could Still Become A Two-Time UFC Champion

Fresh Videos

By @DanDudleyJr

Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports

‘The Dragon’ Lyoto Machida will go down as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.

A nice guy both in front and away from the cameras, a nice guy who happens to possess one of the most unique fighting styles ever seen. A black belt in Shotokan karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as a background in sumo wrestling, Machida has bone breaking kicks, an awkward stance with both great balance and intelligence. He’s a fighter who dictates the direction and pace of a fight as well as the ability to knock any opponent out at will.

Machida is a former UFC light heavyweight champion and despite being 36 years of age, he shows no signs of slowing down. He’s won three of his last four bouts, including a head kick finish and a body kick finish. His only loss in 2014 came against current UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. Machida’s hunger and passion lies evident in the fact that of his last four bouts, he’s been awarded one knockout of the night, two fight of the nights and one performance of the night.

If Machida manages to keep that exact same hunger and drive in his up and coming bouts, he could potentially be the UFC’s next multi-division champion. He has the talent and MMA attributes to dominate the middleweight division. Potential future opponents include Luke Rockhold, Jacare Souza or even Yoel Romero, and if ‘The Dragon’ can dismantle any three of these opponents like he did to names such as Randy Couture, Mauricio Rua, Rashad Evans, then the UFC can’t not offer him another title shot.

Although some may argue that Machida has been involved in too many title fights, when a fighter manages to perform at such a high caliber for a significant amount of time, it’s hard for them to go unnoticed. Machida is one more convincing win away from another title shot, and this time round he may become only the third UFC fighter ever to win championships in two different divisions.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on