Lyoto Machida may (or may not) have been slighted on the scorecards Saturday night, but he won’t find himself too removed from the top of the light heavyweight division.
Machida was looking to keep busy while UFC champion Jon Jones took on Alexander Gustafsson even though he’d been promised a title shot on numerous occasions. That plan backfired on Machida as now he’ll have to scrap his way back to title contention.
Where Machida will find some trouble is getting a top-ranked contender who makes sense for his next fight. He’s already fought many of the top contenders and will likely have to engage in a rematch or face a young, up-and-coming type of fighter in his next outing.
Or perhaps he’ll take a more drastic approach.