Lyoto Machida on Not Fighting Teammates, Moving up to Heavyweight

Published on: 28th November, 2009

Lyoto Machida on Not Fighting Teammates, Moving up to Heavyweight  | read this item

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Still undefeated 16 fights in his MMA career, current UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida faced the toughest test inside the Octagon by far when he faced Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in his last fight at UFC 104 in October from a bout where many people believe that Machida lost and to settle the score and controversy the two will have their rematch at UFC 113 in Montreal, Canada. Still, ‘The Dragon’ touches on a few subjects which include not fighting his teammates Anderson Silva and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, plus the opportunity to someday move up to compete for the heavyweight title as well.

While speaking to the fans on RedeTV from his home country in Brazil Machida feels that he has won every round except the final round against Shogun.

 “I think I was superior from round one to four, actually trying to finish the fight, and I slightly lost the fifth round.”

Machida was also asked the question as to whether or not he would face UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the future and also stands by his words to say that he is like a brother to him and will never fight him and would move up to heavyweight to further test his skill and abilities.

“We won’t fight because we’re friends. We hang out, go to dinner and do many things together. I want to defend the belt some times and after that, make a personal challenge to test my potential. But it’s a thought for the future. Who knows – will I be the heavyweight champion one day?”  

The light heavyweight champion also stated that he would also not fight former PRIDE and Affliction veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira who is the newest addition to the 205 pound weight class as well.

“Let’s fight other guys,” he said.

However, Machida must first recover from hand surgery and prepare for his anticipated rematch with Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua who has found the blueprint to crack the champ’s armor, so first things first.

Translated by : Fighters Only

Photo: ESPN.com

 Nelson Rodriguez AKA: Nelo2.0 is the Co - Owner of URDirt.com who is also an Editor and Author on the site. Read more from this author

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