MANILA, Philippines – Another top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) superstar will be visiting the country as former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida is scheduled to set foot on Philippine soil in November.
In partnership with ABS-CBN’s cable sports channel Balls, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization is bringing Machida to Manila for a meet-and-greet session and public workout on November 18 at a yet-to-be-named venue.
The UFC has brought several marquee fighters to the Philippines in recent years, including Chuck Liddell, Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, Mark Muñoz, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Alexander Gustafsson, Cung Le, Urijah Faber and Carlos Condit.
Faber spearheaded a string of seminars, community outreaches, and mall tours during the summer period of 2014, while Condit had an open training session at the Trinoma Activity Center in Quezon City in November of last year.
In addition, the organization held its first live event in the Philippines this past May at Pasay City’s 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena, which featured Muñoz’s farewell bout and the featherweight super-fight between Frankie Edgar and Faber.
(READ: UFC Fight Night Manila: By the numbers)
Machida (22-7) won the UFC light heavyweight belt by knocking out Rashad Evans in the second round of their May 2009 championship clash.
The 37-year-old Japanese-Brazilian was able to successfully defend the gold-plated strap once before losing the title to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via first-round knockout in their May 2010 rematch.
After 15 Octagon outings as a 205-pound competitor, Machida moved down to the middleweight division, where he scored impressive victories over the likes of Muñoz, Gegard Mousasi and CB Dollaway.
Machida was able to vie for Chris Weidman’s middleweight title, but he bowed down to the American champion by unanimous decision.
"The Dragon" decided to take a break from the sport following back-to-back stoppage defeats, tapping out to Luke Rockhold’s rear-naked choke in April before being knocked out by Yoel Romero with elbows two months later. – Rappler.com