While fighters tend to avoid making excuses for losses, they will generally explain the “reasons” they lost, which are often one in the same. In a new interview, Lyoto Machida explains why he feels he lost to Luke Rockhold back in April.
Machida spoke with veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com and revealed that he feels an illegal elbow from Rockhold was the beginning of the end for him during their UFC On FOX 18 bout in Newark, New Jersey.
“I’ve watched it maybe 3-4 times, that fight,” said Machida of the Rockhold bout. “I saw that I got an elbow on my neck, he elbowed my neck and I was so dizzy that time. Then, when I went to corner, I barely hear my brother, so when I got back to the fight, I was so dizzy, my legs were wobbly. I wasn’t recovered. So suddenly I fell again, and he was smart and capitalized.”
Machida continued, “I thought that was illegal shot. But, it’s not a problem because it’s a fight, something happens sometime. I think it wasn’t on purpose, but I think it happened, it made me bad.”
