Lyoto Machida has shut down the rumors of being put in a coma after his June 2015 knockout loss to Yoel Romero at UFC Battle Night time 70.
“Soldier of God” lately claimed on his Overdogs Espanol podcast that the previous UFC mild heavyweight champion “was in a coma” after “he suffered brutal harm” throughout their middleweight major occasion in Hollywood, Fla. Nonetheless, Machida advised MMA Combating Romero’s recollection is inaccurate.
Machida did undergo harm in that struggle, after being completed with nasty elbows within the third spherical, however mentioned he was by no means in important situation.
“I heard about [Romero’s comments] however I didn’t watch [the video], however that’s not true in any respect,” Machida mentioned. “What occurred was, I broke my nostril in that struggle and had surgical procedure. However there was no coma or something like that. That by no means occurred.”
Machida dropped to 1-3 in his previous 4 with that defeat to Romero, and the Cuban expertise mentioned “after he fought me, he wasn’t the identical.” Machida had surgical procedure the day after the struggle, and misplaced his following bout to Derek Brunson earlier than rebounding with wins in a row, together with highlight-reel knockouts over Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen.
“It is not sensible {that a} fighter would get in a coma after which struggle like 20 instances after that,” Machida laughed. “I had nostril surgical procedure as a result of I broke my nostril. I had keep in Miami for every week — as a result of I lived in Los Angeles and couldn’t fly with the nasal packing. That’s mainly what occurred. It’s regular stuff for us that struggle, proper?”
Machida, 26-12 as knowledgeable MMA fighter, hasn’t fought since dropping to Fabian Edwards in Could 2022. He’s presently slated to function a staff supervisor on the 2025 season of the International Battle League, main the Sao Paulo staff alongside coach Andre Pederneiras.
