Lyoto criticizes Belfort: 'Since he refused the fight, the next fight is against Tim Kennedy'

L. Machida debuts as a middleweight in November. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

After making his middleweight debut against Tim Kennedy official at UFC: Fight for the Troops in November, Lyoto Machida has already started its preparation for the confrontation. Through his official Facebook profile, the former light heavyweight champion commented on the beginning of his training and took the opportunity to poke Vitor belfort, whom he had recently challenged.

“Since the Vitor belfort refused the fight, the next fight is Lyoto Machida x Tim Kennedy. He’s not Brazilian, but he doesn’t shy away from the fight!”, wrote Machida, who made reference to an excerpt from the national anthem used by Belfort when accepting the fight against Jon Jones last year and also repeated a few times during the exchange of challenges between the Brazilian duo.

Lyoto also talked about the fight against Kennedy. “Kennedy fought for the Strikeforce belt, he just won the Roger gracie. I'm 94 kilos now, just ten above average. I don't need much more time to adapt to this weight. I'm ready. I don’t want to stay still for too long”, he concluded.

Lyoto Machida faces Tim Kennedy in the third edition of UFC: Fight for the Troops, an event aimed at North American troops. The fight night takes place on November 6th, in the Fort Campbell North region, in the state of Kentucky. In addition to Machida and Kennedy, only the duel between Jorge masvidal and Rustam Khabilov was announced for the tournament.