Page 34 - SFM Jan 2015___hi reg

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January - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
34
This past Saturday night Lyoto
Machida closed out 2014 with
an impressive first round TKO
victory over C.B. Dollaway
at UFC Fight Night 58. Even
though Machida was a heavy
favorite heading into the bout,
it was impossible to predict just
how dominant he would be.
But while this victory is a nice
notch on his belt, Machida is
currently in no man’s land.
Machida is now one fight re-
moved from a failed UFC mid-
dleweight title bid and while he
was competitive in spots cham-
pion, Chris Weidman dominat-
ed that fight. With that loss still
very fresh in the minds of fans
and the UFC brass, Machida
isn’t going to be getting an-
other shot at the title anytime
soon.
The problem with that is Ma-
chida is 36 years old and he
only has another year, two at
the most, of prime fighting
years left. Considering he has
avoided a lot of damage over
the course of his career and
maybe he has some more time
than that, but it is unlikely; age
is undefeated in the Octagon.
Given that a middleweight title
shot is unlikely, Machida could
move back up to light heavy-
weight, but that would be a
terrible move at this point in his
career. The light heavyweight
division is filled with killers and
while Machida would still be a
solid top 10 caliber fighter, he
would not be able to beat the
division’s very best.
This isn’t an uncommon prob-
lem for fighters like Machida;
former UFC middleweight
champion Rich Franklin found
himself in the exact same spot
just a few years ago. Like Frank-
lin, Machida needs to accept
UFC gold is no longer in his
future and become the fighter
that carriers ‘Fight Night’ cards
and weak pay-per-views for
the company.
Machida is still a fighter fans
want to watch and there are
plenty of interesting matchups
out there for him, but he needs
to understand what his place in
the organization is today. The
role may not be glamorous but
someone has to do it and Lyoto
Machida is the man for the job.
WHERE DOES LYOTO
MACHIDA GO FROM HERE?
Article By: RJ Gardner
(Dave Mandel/Sherdog)