Former Bellator champion Rafael Carvalho isn’t completely interested in trying the UFC even if he beats their former champion Lyoto Machida at Bellator 213.
Former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho will have his hands full at Bellator 213. Paired up against former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Lyoto Machida, the 32-year-old muay thai specialist considers the task of welcoming the ‘Dragon’ into a new organization as one of the biggest challenges of his career.
In an interview for Bloody Elbow, Carvalho explains he feels motivated and prepared for the fight, and – even though Machida is eight years his elder – Rafael does not believe he’ll have much of an age advantage.
“I feel happy and I feel prepared for all the challenges in my career. We’re talking about Lyoto Machida, a former champion from a huge company, the UFC. I feel ready and motivated for that challenge.”
“I don’t really think the age difference will play a big factor. I believe Lyoto is an experience fighter. He’s dangerous, he has knockout power. He showed that when he fought athletes who are about the same age as me, so I don’t think the age difference means much. For instance, Randy Couture fought until he was almost 50 and he was always facing fighters who were about 30 or 40 and he was still competitive. Age is just a small detail.”
Although Carvalho already took on former UFC fighters Gegard Mousasi and Alessio Sakara in recent outings – and will meet former champion Machida in December – Rafael doesn’t sound too interested in making the jump to the larger organization, not even after a potential Machida win.
“I’m happy at Bellator, I’m grateful for everything they did for me in my career. I don’t really intend to jump over to the UFC. Not that it can’t happen, but it’s not really something on my mind. You can never say never, but I’m happy at Bellator. , It’s not something I’m thinking about at the moment. My plans aren’t God’s plans or the company’s, but let’s just and wait and see what the future has in store for me.”
Rafael Carvalho (15-2) conquered Bellator’s middleweight title with a TKO win over Brando Halsey in October 2015. He followed the win up with three successful title defenses, against Melvin Manhoef twice and once against Alessio Sakara. In his last fight, back in May, he lost the title to Gegard Mousasi.
Lyoto Machida (24-8) left the UFC on a two-fight winning streak, with wins over Eryk Anders and Vitor Belfort. Before that, however, The Dragon struggled through a three-fight losing streak, falling at the hands of Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero, and Derek Brunson.
Now, Rafael Carvalho is expected to take on Lyoto Machida at Bellator 213, on December 15, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The card will be headlined by a female flyweight title fight between champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and UFC veteran Valerie Letorneau.