Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida is one of the most skilled and elusive fighters in the history of mixed martial arts. He has defeated former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin, BJ "The Prodigy" Penn, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua while for the most part avoiding any significant damage. Machida made his UFC debut in 2007 after compiling an undefeated 8-0 record outside of the promotion, and eventually propelled himself to a position as the top contender at 205 lbs. with six straight victories. Machida knocked out then-champion Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 98 in May of 2009, becoming the promotion’s second undefeated fighter to win a world title.

Born in the Brazilian city of Salvador in 1978, Machida was the third son of the highly ranked head of the Brazilian branch of the Japan Karate Association, Yoshizo Machida. Machida earned his black belt in Machida Karate at the age of 13, and went on to win major world titles in sport Karate competition before transitioning to mixed martial arts in 2003.

While the base of his fighting style is traditional Karate, Machida is also an experienced practitioner of Sumo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and western freestyle wrestling, combining the various disciplines into one of the most deceptive and difficult combative styles in the history of the sport. Although he has been criticized for retreating from opponents in the past, Machida often utilizes this technique to lull his opponents into a sense of complacency before launching an offensive striking assault of his own, and his list of knockout victims is proof of his willingness to engage.

The first fighter to solve the Machida puzzle was vaunted Brazilian striker Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who knocked Machida out in the first round of their highly anticipated rematch to deal "The Dragon" his first professional loss, and relieve him of his title in the process.