Machida claims ‘illegal shot’ was turning point in loss
Lyoto Machida: “I saw that I got an elbow on my neck, he elbowed my neck and I was so dizzy that time. Then, when I went to corner, I barely hear my brother…”
Lyoto Machida suffered one of his worst losses at UFC on FOX 15 to Luke Rockhold, but claims it was an illegal blow that caused the fight to go in the wrong direction for him:
“I’ve watched it maybe 3-4 times, that fight,” Machida said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I saw that I got an elbow on my neck, he elbowed my neck and I was so dizzy that time. Then, when I went to corner, I barely hear my brother, so when I got back to the fight, I was so dizzy, my legs were wobbly. I wasn’t recovered. So suddenly I fell again, and he was smart and capitalized.”
Machida, who fights Yoel Romero in the main event of the UFC Fight Night card in Hollywood, Fla. on June 27, doesn’t believe Rockhold deliberately fouled him. But he still finds it to be a turning point in the bout.
“I thought that was illegal shot,” Machida said. “But, it’s not a problem because it’s a fight, something happens sometime. I think it wasn’t on purpose, but I think it happened, it made me bad.”