Lyoto Machida: "I definitely think I'm the guy that can beat Chris Weidman"
There was no doubt when UFC 175 ended in July that Chris Weidman had defeated Lyoto Machida to defend his middleweight title. Weidman won by a clean sweep across all the scorecards so his championship reign was in tact.
Still, Machida managed to do more damage to Weidman and keep things close during several key points during the fight. He clearly won the fourth round and picked up the second round on at least one judge's scoring tallies.
It's only a moral victory because in the end Machida didn't leave Las Vegas with the middleweight title, but that doesn't mean he can't draw confidence from his performance.
"I think you're constantly learning, regardless of which fight it is," Machida told FOX Sports. "It's hard to pinpoint what it is you take away from the fight, but you learn something new everyday and every fight so that's kind of what you take away from every different fight."
Since the fight with Weidman happened, Machida has heard his name as the topic of discussion for several top fighters in the middleweight division. Most believe that the road to the title could go through Machida because when examining his record the only losses he's faced are to champions or former champions minus one lone loss to Phil Davis last year.
Outside of that, Machida has fought and beaten the best of the best so to find a way to defeat him must mean the person truly is one of the top fighters in the world.
"It's possible. It's really hard to look in and assess myself, but if you look at the rankings that's possibly the situation," Machida said when asked if the next middleweight contender will have to go through him first.
As much as Machida appreciates the accolades his fellow middleweights bestow upon him, there's no way he's going to be satisfied to play the role of gatekeeper to the title.
Instead, Machida looks at his fight against C.B. Dollaway this weekend as the first step back to his own title shot in 2015.
After going five hard rounds with Weidman this year, Machida now knows he can go toe-to-toe with the champion and he truly believes he's the one that will take that belt from around his waist.
"I definitely think I'm the guy that can beat Chris Weidman," Machida said. "Not only Chris Weidman, but anyone in this division I can go up against and be superior. I'm looking forward to this fight now, but I definitely believe I could excel against Chris Weidman."
There's no timeline on Machida's future, but if he annihilates Dollaway on Saturday it's a good first step into the New Year.
If everything goes his way, Machida hopes to dispatch of his fight on Saturday and then begin his systematic dismantling of every middleweight who stands in his way between now and another title shot.
"I believe so," Machida answered when asked if he would fight for the belt by the end of 2015. "I don't think it's very far at all."
