Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, 40, of Belem, Para, Brazil has earned his first victory in Bellator MMA. The Brazilian-Japanese-Portuguese-Italian mixed martial artist was one of the winners at “Bellator 213.”
Featuring 12 MMA bouts, “Bellator 213” took place at the Neal S. Blaisdelle Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States on December 15, 2018. In the co-main event of the evening, Machida faced Rafael Carvalho, 32, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at a catch weight of 186.5 lbs.
After three-five minute rounds, the bout was left in the hands of the judges. Two judges scored it 29-28 in favor of Machida while the third judge scored it 28-29 in favor of Carvalho.
It was the fourth time Machida won a professional MMA bout via split decision and it improved his record to 25 wins and 8 losses. The other three opponents he defeated via split decision were Sam “Slam ’em Sam the Man” Greco, 51 of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Dan “Hendo” Henderson, 48, of Temecula, California, USA and Eryk “Ya Boi” Anders, 31, of Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Machida was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil on May 30, 1978 to a Japanese father and Portuguese-Italian mother. As an MMA fighter, he has been competing professionally since May 2, 2003.
On February 3, 2007, Machida made his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He defeated Sam “The Alaskan Assassin” Hoger, 38, of Houston, Texas via unanimous decision at “UFC 67: All or Nothing” at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, USA.
Including Hoger, Machida faced 24 opponents in the UFC octagon. Machida defeated his two most recent UFC opponents namely Anders and Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort, 41, of Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
“Bellator 213” marked Machida’s Bellator MMA debut. In the main event, Ilima-Lei “The Ilimanator” Macfarlane, 28, of San Diego, California, United States successfully defended her Bellator Women’s Flyweight Championship title from Valerie Letourneau, 36, of Coconut Creek, Florida, USA.
Watch Machida, Carvalho, Macfarlane and Letourneau talk about their respective bouts prior to the “Bellator 213” fight night here:
CONAN Daily 