Close to a duel against Chael Sonnen, Lyoto Machida is surprised by the respect of his opponent

L. Machida (left) reveals that C. Sonnen (right) wants to better promote the duel at Bellator 222, Photo: Reproduction/YouTube MMA Junkie

MMA veteran, Lyoto Machida is close to facing an athlete well known by Brazilians. The 'Samurai', this Friday (14) will face Chael Sonnen, at Bellator 222, in New York (USA). The athlete, however, complained that his opponent has not promoted the fight as well as he used to. The statement was made in a recent interview with the website 'MMA Junkie'. This will be the Brazilian's second fight for the new organization.

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“He has been very respectful to me, and I appreciate that. But actually, I wish he would promote the fight more, because he knows how to do that. I'm not worried if he talks nonsense. If it’s good for the fight, that’s fine,” Machida declared.

Sonnen became well known in Brazil after his controversies involving the former UFC middleweight champion (up to 83,9kg), Anderson Silva. At the time, 'Spider' reigned in Ultimate as the company's biggest star, until Chael appeared in his path and managed to take combat promotions to another level.

Always sharp in his interviews, the North American provoked, challenged and even insulted the Brazilian in the press conferences that preceded the duel, which took place in 2010. In the fight itself, Sonnen managed to surprise everyone by offering real danger to Silva, who was dominated for almost five rounds, but managed to win after finding a submission with just a few seconds remaining in the fight.

The duel against Chael will mark Lyoto's second commitment since the athlete left the UFC in May last year. In June, the fighter signed a contract with Bellator, and made his debut with a victory over his compatriot Raphael Carvalho, in December.

Sonnen, in turn, will fight his fourth fight for the company. The athlete had announced his retirement from MMA in 2013, however, four years later, he decided to resume his career as a fighter. In the 'new home', the 'American Gangster' has already performed on four occasions and, on all four occasions, he faced names respected worldwide in mixed martial arts: Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, Quinton jackson e Fedor Emelianenko.

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