– Last night at UFC Fight Night 36, Lyoto Machida out-fought Gegard Mouasasi over five rounds to earn a unanimous decision win and a Fight of the Night bonus. During the Fox Sports post-fight show, Machida revealed that he won his second straight fight since dropping to middleweight with an injured foot.
“I don’t know what happened. I did some kicking and he defended with his knee. I don’t know if I broke my foot,” he said. “I didn’t think about my foot during the fight, I just tried to keep my focus on the fight. He’s a tough opponent. But he kept his hand down. I saw I could kick his head, leg and body. I had confidence in my kicks.”
While the win makes Machida a frontrunner for a middleweight title shot, the UFC have yet to commit and for now, Machida is fine with that.
“I don’t know. Dana White is the boss and can decide everything. I think I deserve the title shot,” said Machida. “We’ll see.”
Whether or not he has to wait for a crack at the belt, it doesn’t sound like Machida will be hopping back up to his old home at light heavyweight in the meantime.
“Now I’ve found my weight,” he said. “There are a lot of big guys at 205. Now I’m a big guy. I can fight everybody with my technique, strength and power.”
Dana White has said that Machida’s exact spot in the title picture will be determined by the outcome of the UFC 173 title fight between champ Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.
– In other middleweight action last night, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza shut down Francis Carmont for a unanimous decision victory and his own place in line for a title shot. Jacare spoke about the fight on the Fox Sports post-fight show.
“I’m very happy. I knew he was a tough fighter,” said Jacare. “He was able to hold the submissions off. I really wanted to go for the submission and it was a tough fight.”
Like Machida, Jacare feels that he deserves a shot at the belt, but is fine jumping back into the fray if he doesn’t get the call.
“I deserve one, but if the UFC doesn’t think so, and the UFC wants to give me another fight, I’ll fight anyone,” he said.
The win over Carmont puts Jacare at six straight wins.
– Lyoto Machida, Gegard Mousasi, Charles Olivera and Erick Silva all earned $50,000 bonuses for their efforts last night.
Machida and Mousasi won Fight of the Night for their five round tilt. Oliveira earned one of the new Performance of the Night bonuses for his submission of Andy Ogle and Silva earned the second for his TKO over Takenori Sato.
– The UFC revealed last night that UFC Fight Night 36 drew a reported attendance of 7,511; gate figures were not reported.
The event took place at the Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
