Yoel Romero recently made a surprising claim about the lasting impact of his fight against Lyoto Machida.
Once a top contender who faced many of MMA’s elite, Romero suggested that his 2015 knockout victory over Machida had severe consequences for “The Dragon.”
Speaking on Mike Perry’s OverDogs Podcast, Romero alleged that Machida “wasn’t the same” after their fight, claiming the former UFC champion suffered “brutal damage” and even went into a coma. Romero said he was so concerned that he reached out to Machida’s management team for updates on his condition. He used the alleged incident to highlight the extreme risks fighters take inside the cage.
However, Machida quickly refuted Romero’s claims, telling MMA Fighting that the story was entirely inaccurate.
“I heard about [Romero’s comments], but I didn’t watch [the video],” Machida said. “But that’s not true at all. What happened was I broke my nose in that fight and had surgery. But there was no coma or anything like that. That never happened.”
Machida dismissed the idea that he suffered serious long-term damage, pointing to his extensive fighting career after the Romero bout.
“It makes no sense that a fighter would get in a coma and then fight like 20 times after that,” Machida laughed. “I had nose surgery because I broke my nose. I had to stay in Miami for a week — because I lived in Los Angeles and couldn’t fly with the nasal packing. That’s basically what happened. It’s normal stuff for us that fight, right?”
After his loss to Romero, Machida competed nine more times as a professional, winning four of those bouts. He eventually retired from MMA in 2022 after a knockout loss to Fabian Edwards in Bellator.
