Opening up the UFC 224 main card, Lyoto Machida picked up another highlight reel knockout by kicking Vitor Belfort in the face in the second round. The opening round was lackluster to say the least, full of a lot of feints and even more starring, but the second round made up for that. If you remember correctly, this was the same sort of kick that Anderson Silva used to stop Belfort back in the day.
Machida came in losing three of his last four, and responded with authority, and now owns back to back wins. Belfort technically went 1-2-1 in his last four fights, but he got destroyed in that one no-contest, and now sits at 1-3-1 in his last five. After the fight, Vitor Belfort left his gloves in the Octagon, retiring from the sport of MMA after a crazy 22-year career.
UFC 224 main card:
Vitor Belfort def. Lyoto Machida by KO (front kick) at 1:00 of round 2: Middleweight
A whole minute went by before either man closed the distance to engage the other, followed by a whole lot of feints and starring. Machida started to open up with some kicks around the midpoint of the first round, but the output quickly returned to a simmer. Machida scored a few more kicks before the time expired, but that round was a snoozer. Just when it looked like another round of little offense was coming on, Machida did his best Anderson Silva impersonation and front kicked Vitor Belfort to sleep!
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