Lyoto
Machida
would like nothing more than to thumb his nose at
Father Time yet again.
The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder
will lock horns with
Fabian
Edwards in the
Bellator
281 co-headliner on Friday at The SSE Arena in London. Machida
steps back into the spotlight on the heels of three straight
losses. “The Dragon” last appeared at Bellator 256, where he
dropped a five-round unanimous decision to
Ryan Bader on
April 9, 2021. Edwards, meanwhile, finds himself on a two-fight
losing streak. He last competed on May 21, when he wound up on the
wrong side of a unanimous verdict against
Austin
Vanderford at Bellator 259.
As Machida and Edwards move ever closer to their confrontation at
185 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied
them to this point:
43: Years of age for Machida, who was born on May 30, 1978 in
Salvador, Brazil.
11: Machida wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
42% of his career total (26). His list of victims includes
Chael
Sonnen,
Vitor
Belfort,
Ryan Bader,
Randy
Couture,
Rashad
Evans and
Rich
Franklin. Machida holds two other wins by submission and 13
more by decision.
80: Rounds completed by Machida as a professional mixed martial
artist. He has gone the distance on 19 different occasions and
carries a 13-6 record in those bouts.
62: Seconds needed for Machida to cut down
C.B.
Dollaway with a body kick and follow-up punches in the UFC
Fight Night 58 main event on Dec. 10, 2014. Having occurred more
than seven years ago, it remains his fastest finish to date.
262: Combined victories between the 10 opponents—Bader,
Phil Davis
(twice),
Gegard
Mousasi,
Derek
Brunson,
Yoel Romero,
Luke
Rockhold,
Chris
Weidman,
Jon Jones,
Quinton
Jackson and
Mauricio
Rua—who have beaten Machida. They boast a cumulative .775
winning percentage (262-73-3).
29: Years of age for Edwards, who was born in Birmingham, England,
on March 24, 1993.
3: Edwards wins by submission, accounting for 33% of his career
total (nine). His methods of choice: two rear-naked chokes and one
armbar. Edwards owns three other wins by knockout or technical
knockout and three more by decision.
902: Days since Edwards last paid a visit to victory lane. He has
followed his split decision over
Mike
Shipman on Nov. 23, 2019 with back-to-back losses.
5: Consecutive calendar years in which Edwards has fought at least
once. He went 3-0 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 4-0 in 2019, 0-1 in 2020
and 0-1 in 2021.
.889: Cumulative winning percentage between the two
opponents—Vanderford and
Costello
van Steenis—who have defeated Edwards. They sport a combined
record of 24-3.