Yoshizo Machida, the father and coach of former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida (16-1) speaks about his son’s defeat at the hands of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-4) at UFC 113 in May. He also shares his thoughts and concerns on his son’s future.
Mr. Machida thinks all the pressure got to Lyoto.
“In that last fight, he trained very hard in all areas. He trained standing, takedowns, ground and gave his maximum in training. But I think the pressure got to his head. The whole state of Pará, his friends … it was hard for him to deal with such pressure. But it happened. Indeed the punch hit him. He ended up falling and there was no way.”
Surprisingly, Mr. Machida believes Lyoto should retire. Although, he says he has not expressed these thoughts to Lyoto, only to his wife and other sons.
“I already said that he better not fight anymore, but I didn’t say it to him. I have expressed this desire just to my wife and his brothers. He doesn’t want (to retire) and says he still has many challenges. According to him 35 is a good age to stop. I think that up to 35 is still possible but after that it starts getting tricky.”
HT: Sherdog.com
[…] two actual losses to Mauricio Shogun Rua (one official and the other unofficial) and intimations to retire from his legendary father, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida is clearly standing on a single […]