MANILA, Philippines - Lyoto Machida knocked out Mark Muñoz with a head kick in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Phones 4U Arena in Manchester, England yesterday, dashing the Filipino fighter’s hopes of climbing the middleweight title ladder.
Machida, a Japanese-Brazilian who was a last-minute replacement to Michael Bisping who had an eye problem, had no problem going down from light heavy to middleweight as he needed just a little over three minutes in finishing off Muñoz, whom he trained and sparred for a long time.
After unloading kicks to the body in the first two minutes of the fight, Machida went to the head and connected solidly, sending Muñoz down, sprawling and dazed as the former went for the kill.
But as Machida moved in against a fallen friend, he hesitated, forcing referee Leon Roberts to stop the fight.
“It’s very hard for me because Mark is a good friend to me, but as a professional I can’t think about that,†Machida said during the post-fight interview at the Octagon. “I have to do my job.â€
The win improved Machida’s record to 20-4 (win-loss) while lining him up for a potential title shot against reigning middleweight titlist Chris Weidman, or perhaps an equally interesting duel with former champion Anderson “The Spider†Silva.
Muñoz, known as “The Filipino Wrecking Machine,†took his fourth defeat against 13 wins and virtually kissed his title hopes goodbye.
Guamanian John Tuck, who fought on Phl soil via the Pacific XTreme Combat fight outfit, suffered his first loss as he bowed to Norman Parke via unanimous decision.