The Dragon reflects on suspension
Lyoto Machida: “I have no control of life. I have to prepare myself for any situation. This is my goal, this is the message I learned.”
Last year former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida was recently suspended for 18 months after disclosing that he was taking an over the counter supplement 7-Keto. This was a reduction of six months from the standard two-year suspension for a first-time failure, as Machida voluntarily disclosed the information, and did not know it was prohibited. The fighter protested the decision on his social network, and then protested further during an appearance onAriel Helwani’s The MMA Hour. USADA responded that he should have known better, but that is very much in question.
Now ‘The Dragon’ makes his return from suspension at UFC Fight Night 119 on October 28, 2017, at Ginasio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In a recent interview with Guilherme Cruz for MMA Fighting Machida reflected on the time off.
“I’m a guy that always had positive thoughts in every situation in my life, said Machida. “The moment everything happened was really hard for me, emotionally speaking. I’m a martial artist who trains as a lifestyle first and foremost, not only for competition. I like to empty my mind and focus on developing my abilities in training. When it all went down, I didn’t look on the negative aspect of it, only on the positive side.
“I had to go through this moment. There’s no explanation, the universe conspired so I had to go through this moment because I needed to fix some things, have a time for myself, enjoy my family a bit more, work on other aspects [of the fight game], things I wasn’t doing because I had one fight after the other.
“Coming back now, I had an incredible mental and physical gain because I was training regardless of not being competing. I was training at Kings MMA and Black House. I traveled in search of new training, went to Brazil and other places, because this is my life. I truly believe that my mission is much more than just compete.”
“I live my life, I walk the right path, but I can’t be like ‘Oh, I’m scared of this or that.’ I have no control of life. I have to prepare myself for any situation. This is my goal, this is the message I learned through this period of time. Sometimes it’s tough moments that I didn’t choose, but you have to go through.”