Lyoto Machida: I deserve a title shot
Lyoto Machida won his second straight fight over a solid middleweight contender Saturday night in his native Brazil and the former 205 pound champ feels he's now done enough to earn a shot at the 185 pound title. Speaking with Fox Sports Live after his decision win over Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 36 Saturday night, "The Dragon" acknowledged that, ultimately, the decision is not his to make but that he feels he deserves a crack at the middleweight strap.
"Dana White is the boss and can decide everything. I think I deserve the title shot. We’ll see," Machida said.
Middleweight champion Chris Weidman next defends his title against Vitor Belfort in May. It will be interesting to see if the UFC offers Machida another fight in the meantime or holds off on booking him again until seeing how Weidman vs. Belfort goes.
It's possible that Machida might need some time off anyhow because of a foot he injured against Mousasi. "I don’t know what happened. I did some kicking and he defended with his knee. I don’t know if I broke my foot," Machida said.
"I didn’t think about my foot during the fight, I just tried to keep my focus on the fight. He’s a tough opponent. But he kept his hand down. I saw I could kick his head, leg and body. I had confidence in my kicks.”
Machida dropped down to middleweight after a close decision loss to Phil Davis last August. The 35 year-old believes that he's finally in the right weight class now.
“Now I’ve found my weight. There are a lot of big guys at 205," he said.
"Now I’m a big guy. I can fight everybody with my technique, strength and power.”
Do you want to see Machida fight the winner of Weidman vs. Belfort? Let us know in the comments section.
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