At UFC 163, Lyoto Machida will compete in the co-main event of the card headlined by the UFC featherweight title defense of Jose Aldo against the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung. Machida will be taking on Phil Davis in a crucial fight in the light heavyweight division. With Anderson Silva losing his world title, Jon Jones has a chance to become the top pound for pound fighter in the world and the winner of this fight between the former champion and the talented grappler could determine the next challenger for the title currently held by Jones.
More so than Davis, Machida is a win away from the opportunity to redeem himself and the loss he suffered at the hands of Jones in December 2011. In that fight, Jones earned the technical submission win and dropped Machida on his head after the referee stepped in and called the fight. All the talk after that fight was the disrespect Machida was shown by Jones and after victories against Ryan Bader and Dan Henderson, Machida could be on his way to competing for the world title with the win.
Davis will certainly have other plans on his mind when it comes to this fight. He has won two straight and currently has an 11-1 (1) record and a win against Machida would be the biggest victory of his career. For someone that has spent most of his professional career competing in the greatest MMA company in the world, Davis has a real chance to succeed in the UFC and a win against Machida would put him on the right track to the world title.
UFC 163 emanates from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday August 3, 2013.
