Yoel Romero Rains Down On Lyoto Machida For Vicious Stoppage

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Looking to erase the bad memories of his dominant, one-sided loss to upcoming title challenger Luke Rockhold back in April, No. 4-ranked UFC middleweight Lyoto Machida made a quick turnaround to face No. 6 Yoel Romero in the main event of tonight’s (Sat., June 27, 2015) UFC Fight Night 70 from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

The fight started a bit tentatively, with each competitor throwing a few glancing kicks. Romero snapped a body kick and blocked one of Machida’s, pressing the action. Machida responded with a slapping low kick, following with two more. Machida landed to the body and feinted, seemingly finding his rhythm. Romero answered with a big right that wobbled Machida momentarily. They traded kicks and punches as Machida snapped a left hand and ate a counter as the bell sounded on the first round.

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Romero and Machida exchanged hard punches to start the second, and ‘The Dragon’ landed again. Romero pressed the pace as the crowd chanted his name, snapping a kick to the body and a leg kick. Machida landed a hard straight left, and Romero blasted him with a big right and a flying knee attempt. ‘The Dragon’ threw a left and a kick, but Romero responded with a flurry. Romero landed a huge combination of hooks, following with another. But he missed wildly, so Machida unloaded a combo of kicks. Romero ended the second with a wild flurry right at the buzzer.

Romero came out with an uppercut in the third before both fighters landed low kicks. ‘The Soldier of God’ slipped a big shot and took Machida down, unloading some absolutely vicious elbows that put ‘The Dragon’ out cold for the emphatic win.

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Final Result: Yoel Romero def. Lyoto Machida via R3 TKO (elbows, 1:38)