After three years out of the cage, Chinzo Machida, brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, returned in devastating fashion with a savage knockout of Brian Wood. You can check out a GIF of the hellacious flying knee that put Wood on a stretcher here (courtesy of Bloody Elbow’s Zombie Prophet).
Machida has been a major part of his brother’s training camps, as well as a member of the major Brazilian MMA gym, Black House. While he has been training for over a decade, he has a limited professional fighting record, making his MMA debut at Jungle Fight 4 in 2005 but only fighting three times since. This win advances his record to 2-2.
As stated, the knockout was legitimately fearsome. However, it was so brutal that the fallout primarily focused on questions about the well-being of Wood.
Brutal knee from Chinzo Machida in late first flattens Brian Wood, who’s still flat on his back minutes after the fight.
— Steven Marrocco (@MMAjunkieSteven) November 23, 2013
Damn. Hope Wood’s alright. RT @ZProphet_MMA: GIF – Chinzo Machida vs. Brian Wood #RFA11 http://t.co/4KixcS1cYD
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) November 23, 2013
Former UFC welterweight champion Pat Miletich, who was providing commentary for the event, chimed in as well.
Probably the most brutal knee to the face I have ever seen live.
— Pat Miletich (@patmiletich) November 23, 2013
While Machida is still in the early stages of his MMA career, chances are slim that he will be able to put enough fights in to achieve true relevance. He is currently 36 years old, and none of his fights (including his losses) have come over ranked opponents.
His last fight came almost three years ago in December 2010, which ended in a decision loss, and left him with a badly broken hand. While he was planning on making a serious run in MMA, this put him on the sidelines for over a year. His obligations to his brother also helped keep him out of the cage, as Lyoto made two separate title runs during that time, losing to Jon Jones, and worked his way back into contention before being slapped back down by a controversial loss to Phil Davis.
Still, Chinzo has set his goals high, and is hoping the UFC is in his future.
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