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“I like to challenge myself. I love this sport,” Machida toldSherdog.com. “When you have these feelings, you have to follow whatyou want to do. I already raised a belt in the UFC. Now I have achance to raise another belt in Bellator.”
Competing north of 40 is common in combat sports. However, doing socompetitively at the highest levels is not. For every RandyCouture, 10 others who try to mirror his success fail. In othercases, there are those who end their careers long before they reachthe age of 40.
“You see people from other organizations, [and] they retire [intheir 20s and 30s]. It’s because this sport is so competitive,”Machida said. “Sometimes they lose some fights and they don’tbelieve they can do it [at a high level] anymore, but because weare still here in our 40s, there has to be some respect. It’s notan easy path to train every day.”
Respect for elders is important to the man who has studied martialarts since he was 4 years old, especially when he feels he hasmaintained a legitimate level of relevance well past his prime. Assuch, the idea of “senior circuit” bouts -- something bandied aboutin media and fan circles in recent years --bothers him. Machidaunderstands not all fighters beyond 40 continue to compete at ahigh level. However, men like “The Dragon” and Chael Sonnen-- his opponent at Bellator 222 -- believe their age should notautomatically place them in a separate category.
“That bothers me a little bit because of the age,” Machida said.“You see Tom Brady in a different sport. He’s past 40 already, buthe still [performs well]. We can do that in MMA, but it depends onthe fighter. I still believe that I can [perform at a highlevel].”
Machida realizes not many athletes can excel at an advanced age.Most encounter tremendous difficulty in combating Father Time inthe latter stages of their careers, and for some, retirement seemslike a better option than continuing to fight. Machida can onlyspeak for himself when explaining the mentality of a fighter whocompetes past his prime.
“I can only talk for myself,” he said. “Combat sports, I startedtraining when I was 4 years old. I trained sumo, jiu-jitsu, karate,competing in all of those sports. It was to challenge myself all ofthe time. I like to challenge myself. I’m not tired of it. When youtire of it, you have to stop. You cannot do it for money.”
Machida believes motivation helps him maintain a high level ofskill. His father, Yoshizo, instilled in him at an early age theidea of trying to beat yourself every day. At 74, Yoshizo stillfollows the ideology, as does his son.
“I motivate myself all the time,” Machida said. “When I fail, it’sOK. I come back to my home [and] I work hard, because I know I canpass this test. That’s my career. That’s what I like to do, to passhard moments in my life. I still believe life has everything to dowith that. Sometimes you don’t want to train; you train. Sometimesyou don’t want to do something; you do it. When you beat yourselfevery day, emotionally you become sharper, and that’s the way thatI think. [It’s about doing] what you love to do and [remembering]how you can help other people by being an example through yourwords, your fights [and] your attitudes.”
Machida at Bellator 222 will return to the light heavyweightdivision -- a weight class in which he has not competed since heleft the Ultimate Fighting Championship. During his six-year run ofsuccess at 205 pounds, he racked up wins in 11 of his 15appearances, including a knockout of RashadEvans at UFC 98 that brought with it the undisputed lightheavyweight title. After a UFC 163 loss to Phil Davis,the Brazilian took his talents to the middleweight division, wherehe compiled a 4-2 record, including a win over former 185-poundchampion RafaelCarvalho in his BellatorMMA debut.
Although he remains open to returning to the middleweight division,light heavyweight offers key benefits to a 41-year-old. Machidaclaims he walks around at 218 pounds in between fights. With agecomes greater difficulty in cutting weight. A return to lightheavyweight would alleviate a lot of that pressure and allow him togo from eating three meals a day to five to fuel more intensetraining.
“I like to fight both,” Machida said. “I noticed that when I fightat 185, I lose a little bit of power or strength because of cuttingweight, but that’s why I want to move to 205 again.”
Another incentive behind his return to the light heavyweightdivision is the speed advantage he feels it provides. However,Machida believes he can still compete with faster fighters at 185pounds.
“I try to fight 205 because I still believe that I have [more]mobility and speed than the guys at [light heavyweight],” he said.“At 185, I can say that they have more mobility [and] speed than205 guys.”
Machida calls his return to light heavyweight a “test,” not apermanent move, which makes his being paired with Sonneninteresting. The Oregon native has also bounced around severaldivisions over the last decade, from middleweight all the way up toheavyweight. Sonnen’s success throughout his career has been basedaround his vaunted wrestling skills. Although Machida sees Sonnenas a threat in several areas, he feels that if he can avoid theTeam Quest fighter’s takedowns, he can dictate the action andunleash his strikes at maximum effort.
“Chael is a dangerous fight in any area,” Machida said. “He’sstrong in wrestling. If I can avoid his wrestling, I can controlthe fight easily, more easily than if he uses his wrestling. Everypunch [and] every kick I use is going to be with all of mystrength, all of my will, all of my power.”
When combined with his previous victory over Carvalho and his 2012knockout of current two-division Bellator champion Ryan Bader, awin against Sonnen would likely put Machida in contention forchampionships in two weight classes.
“I would like to fight at 185 and get the belt [or go back tofighting] at 205 and get the belt,” he said. “I want to be achampion in Bellator. That’s my goal.”
