Lyoto Machida will be a free agent next time he leaves the Bellator cage.
“The Dragon” revealed on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocacao Franca that he only has one bout left in his contract with the promotion and plans on testing the market later this year.
“[Bellator] came to us and said, ‘Let’s renew [the contract] one more time if Lyoto wants to,’ and whatever, and we said no, let’s fight this one first and then we’ll see,” Machida said. Every fight is different for me. I saw it that way in the past, and even more now.”
The former UFC lightweight champion was on a winning streak of two fights over Vitor Belfort, Eryk Anders, and signed with Bellator in 2018. He went on to defeat Rafael Carvalho and Chael Sonnen before dropping decisions to middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi and 205-pound rematches with Phil Davis and Ryan Bader.
Machida is hoping to return to middleweight for what may be his final Bellator fight, and welcomes the idea of a bout with former title contender John Salter in March.
Salter, 36, is 8-2 under the Bellator banner with seven finishes, but lost his most recent bout via second-round stoppage to Mousasi.
Wherever Machida goes after his next Bellator outing, the Brazilian legend wants to feel challenged.
“He said, “It’s not the money.” He was asked about what is most important to him in this stage of his career. “Money is important, of course, it goes side by side, but challenge is what moves us. It’s not a good idea to do something solely for money. … Money has to come because that’s earned, you work for that, but it can’t come first. As soon as money comes before other people and your wishes and dreams, that’s weak.
” I want to keep fighting, because it’s what drives me. When I feel I can’t do it anymore, I’ll switch gears and go on another direction. If I don’t feel capable of doing it, I will not insist. As long as I believe I can innovate and do something that feels good, money won’t be a problem .”
Walking away from the sport is not something Machida is considering right now. At age 43, the 37-fight veteran wants to retire on his own terms.
“I do not want it to end like many people close their career,” stated Machida. “I want to get to a point and say, ‘Well, I think I’m good.’ I don’t want other people telling me, ‘Lyoto, I you can’t do it anymore,’ or whatever. My feelings and training are what decide. We must have the opportunity to fight, of course. Although I may be able to walk wires, it doesn’t mean that I have the right wire.
“I want to continue fighting. I’m not sure if [I’ll do] will have three to four more fights. When I was younger, 10 years ago, I was taught to fight every fight as if it was my last; ‘Lyoto, a samurai enters a fight as if it’s last fight.’ You must give your all in training and in the fight, mentally speaking. Now, I cannot imagine myself having three, four or five fights. Every fight is like my last fight. Not in a sense of ending my career, but in the sense of giving my all. And that’s when I’ll make my decision.
” The fire in me is burning and that’s the best thing. I want to invent. I want to create a different game. I want to do different things that give me a different experience. And [I want to] fight.”
A professional since 2003, the karate-specialist has defeated a long list of legends of the sport, including Mousasi, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Bader, Mauricio Rua, Rashad Evans, Tito Ortiz, B.J. Penn, and Stephan Bonnar.
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