Lyoto Machida is not a butthurt UFC washout.
When the Brazilian karateka was offered a sizable contract from Bellator MMA, Dana White and Co. attempted to match it, but “The Dragon” said “thanks, but no thanks” and jumped ship after more than a decade inside the Octagon.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion is also the winner of three straight, having made his successful Bellator MMA debut at the expense of Rafael Carvalho last December and will now move on to face Chael Sonnen next month in New York City.
“I like to be busy, and in order to be busy, I have no choice sometimes,” Machida told MMA Fighting about his upcoming match up. “So I said to Bellator that I would like to fight even if it would be 205, I would like to accept any fight and Bellator came up with Chael’s name, and I said this is gonna be great, man, this is gonna be outstanding, because especially here in New York, in Madison Square Garden, it means a lot to me.”
It will only be great with a win, of course, and turning away Sonnen is likely to move Machida (25-8) to the top of the contender list. “The Dragon” already holds victories over two current Bellator MMA champions in the form of Gegard Mousasi (middleweight) and Ryan Bader (light heavyweight).
“That’s the goal, a champ against champion, so who knows,” Machida, 40, said about rematching “The Dreamcatcher” and “Darth” to capture both crowns. “I already have a victory over both of those guys and you never know what’s gonna happen in the future, but I hope that makes a lot of sense to fight Ryan Bader and also to fight Gegard Mousassi. Just a matter of time.”
The first step begins June 14 in “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”