Lyoto Machida doesn’t know if he’s going to get the winner of the UFC middleweight title fight against Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva.
So all “The Dragon” can do in the interim is continue to take care of business. That he did on Saturday night, as he cruised to a victory over former Strikeforce and Dream light heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi in the main event of UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil.
More Coverage: UFC Fight Night 36 Results | UFC news
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The judges’ scores were 50-45, 50-45, and 49-46, as the former UFC light heavyweight champion improved to 2-0 since dropping to 185 pounds.
“I obviously would like the chance, but it’s up to the UFC,” Machida (21-4) said through an interpreter. “The president of the UFC has to decide who I am going to get.”
The opening round was classic Machida, as he used quick movement, stance changes, sharp kicks and counter flurries to fluster Mousasi (34-9-2, 1 NC). In round two, Machida blasted Mousasi with a head kick, but Mousasi somehow shook it off and had his strongest round of the fight. He kept Machida off-balance with low kicks and landed several solid flurries in the round’s latter moments.
Machida returned to form in round three, though, bloodying Mousasi with his strikes. It was more of the same in round four. In the fourth round’s closing seconds, Mousasi drilled the downed Machida in the face with a flagrant upkick, but referee Mario Yamasaki did not dock a point.
In the final round, Machida went out with a flurry, getting Mousasi’s back and working for a submission, but Mousasi, who lost for the first time in his past eight fights, managed to survive and finish the fight.
“I wanted to finish him, but I couldn’t,” Machida said in his post-fight interview. “He was a tough opponent.”