After pushing UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman to the limit at UFC 178, Lyoto Machida forcefully kept his name atop the heap of a loaded 185-pound division with his impressive win over C.B. Dollaway on Saturday at Fight Night Barueri.
Machida has passed No. 1 contender Vitor Belfort into the No. 3 spot in the middleweight rankings in this week’s release, trailing only No. 2 Jacare Souza and No. 1 Anderson Silva.
“The Dragon” said after the victory in Barueri, Brazil that he’ll look to UFC President Dana White for his next opponent, but he emphasized that the UFC belt is always going to be his objective. Meanwhile, No. 5 Luke Rockhold took to Twitter after the fight to respectfully challenge Machida to a fight.
Machida said that could be the plan.
“Luke Rockhold is credentialed to fight me,” Machida said at the Fight Night Barueri post fight press conference. “A fight against Rockhold would be excellent … (but) it depends on the organization.”
In other rankings movement, Patrick Cummins, fresh off his dominant decision win against Anthony Carlos Junior in Barueri, makes his debut on the light heavyweight rankings at No. 15.
In the featherweight division, Hacran Dias moved into the rankings at No. 15 after his decision win against Darren Elkins, who fell a spot to No. 14. Max Holloway moved up to No. 13.
