Lyoto Machida vs. Luke Rockhold Set For UFC on FOX 15 Main Event
The UFC is set to make their return to Newark, New Jersey on April 18, 2015 and today (January 8, 2015) the company has announced the main event for the UFC on FOX card, also confirmed by MMAJunkie. Headlining the show will be an oft-rumored middleweight showdown between former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and former Strikeforce champion Luke “Rocky” Rockhold.
The show will be held at the Prudential Center, with the main card airing on FOX and the prelims airing on UFC Fight Pass and FOX Sports 1.
After spending most of his career at light heavyweight, “The Dragon” made the drop down to 185 pounds in 2013 and quickly made his mark in the division, taking out Mark Munoz in October 2013 with a lethal head kick and then scoring a decision win over Gegard Mousasi in February 2014. These two wins lined Machida up for a middleweight title shot at UFC 175 last July, but he was ultimately edged out by champion Chris Weidman in a five-round war for the ages.
The last time we saw the Brazilian in action was at UFC Fight Night 58 just a few weeks back on December 20, 2014. Machida got back to his winning ways, absolutely destroying CB Dollaway in just over 60 seconds.
Rockhold has also seen success lately, compiling a very impressive 3-0 2014 campaign. “Rocky” started off the year, putting away Costas Philippou with a devastating body kick at UFC Fight Night 35 last January. He then followed that up with a submission win over Tim Boetsch at UFC 172 last April.
The last time we saw the AKA product compete was at UFC Fight Night 55 back in November where he ended his war of words with veteran Michael Bisping by scoring another submission win.
Coming off of three straight wins, and all being finishes, Rockhold was in line for a big fight and he has definitely got that in Machida. With “Rocky” currently sitting at No. 5 in the middleweight rankings and “The Dragon” at No. 3, this fight could have huge title implications. However, the winner may not be guaranteed a shot at gold, due to the plethora of middleweight contenders at the moment.
What are your early predictions for this middleweight clash?
