Lyoto Machida believes the turmoil around the UFC 175 main event over the past few months was “meant to be.”
Referencing a similar situation back when he challenged Rashad Evans for the light-heavyweight strap, where Machida was slotted in the place of an injured Quinton Jackson and won the title in spectacular fashion, the Brazilian believes the stars may align in a similar fashion once again on Saturday night – five years after his first UFC title win.
“He [Lyoto] has always worked hard and stayed focused,” Soares translated on behalf of Machida. “He believes that if this is the fight that was presented to him then it was meant to be. Vitor had his reasons for why he isn’t able to take this fight and he slid into that position.”
While Machida did admit that there was a certain amount of controversy surrounding Weidman’s two wins over Anderson Silva, he refused to use that reasoning during his preparation for the title fight, as he is aware that his bout with the champion is a far different stylistic match-up.
“Every fight is different. There was some controversy – not taking anything away from Chris – about how he won. The second fight he [Silva] got hurt. Everything is different. He [Lyoto] is going to try and go get that belt.
UFC 175 takes place July 5th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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