MIAMI – Lyoto Machida is not ready to hang up the gloves just yet.
The former UFC champion is hoping to get one more fight before walking away from MMA. Machida (26-12 MMA), who was most recently fighting under the Bellator banner, is no longer with the promotion and now sits as a free agent, MMA Junkie confirmed on Friday.
The 44-year-old ideally would like to get one more fight in before putting an end to his illustrious career.
“Yes, I would like to fight at least one more time, who knows can be the farewell or something like that,” Machida told MMA Junkie at Friday’s UFC 287 legends Q&A with Georges St-Pierre, Vitor Belfort and Chris Weidman.
Machida was last seen in May 2022 at Bellator 281 where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Fabian Edwards. Almost a year removed from that contest, Machida has kept busy – even if inactive professionally.
“So I’m training pretty much every day because I love to train, it’s a part of my life,” Machida said. “Martial arts is in my blood, but you never know. I train with the young guys and I do sparring at least once a week and I feel very good. For now, I don’t have any offers, so I prefer just to keep training and do what I love to do.”
