Lyoto Machida, a former UFC champion pulled out a narrow split decision win against Eryk Anders at UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil (Sat., February 3, 2018).
For Machida, it is his first victory since December 2014 and snaps a three-fight skid.
Machida immediately called out ex-middleweight champ Michael Bisping in the post-fight interview: Michael Bisping, who is reported to be nearing retirement after two consecutive stoppage losses in the span of three weeks last November.
Bisping had previously targeted UFC Fight Night 127 in London on March 17 for his retirement bout, but he recently announced that he would not be competing on the card. It remains unclear if Bisping will step into the Octagon one more time.
Lyoto Machida said that both he and Michael Bisping are nearing the end of their careers and could entertain the fans in a possible retirement fight. (Via MMA fighting)
That’s a fight that should’ve happened a couple times and it didn’t,” Machida said. “I think we both matured together in this sport, so I think fight between Michael Bisping and myself would mean a lot.
“He might retire sometime soon, I could retire sometime soon, and people asked for that fight, so it’s a fight that interests me.”
While Michael Bisping is Machida’s preferred opponent, he also admitted he’d consider fighting another great in Vitor Belfort – though he’d prefer not to fight a fellow Brazilian.
“If I had a choice, I’d rather not fight someone from Brazil, but as a professional, I couldn’t say no. I would rather fight a foreigner, but Vitor is a guy who’s done a lot and he’s a great fighter, and I couldn’t say no.”
No matter whatever is the case, Lyoto Machida is keen to make one last run at the UFC middleweight title, which has shunned him since he dropped down to the division back in October of 2013.
