UFC 140: Power Ranking Lyoto Machida's 5 Best Victories

Lyoto Machida is a veteran of 19 professional MMA fight, and in his 20th, he'll get a second shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.

Machida first won the title at UFC 98 by knocking out Rashad Evans, then controversially defended the title by unanimous decision at UFC 104 against Mauricio Rua.

Machida was sitting at 16-0 as a professional, and was on top of the world, but then at UFC 113, in a rematch against Shogun, it all came crashing down.

He lost against Shogun via first round knockout, then lost a split decision to Rampage Jackson.

At UFC 129, he delivered one of the best wins in his career, as he front kicked Randy Couture into retirement.

I've already listed a few big wins here, but let's take a look at Machida's top five career victories.

5. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou- UFC 79

In Machida's fourth UFC fight, he faced the debuting Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Sokoudjou was coming off two big wins in Pride, as he knocked out Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona in a combined 2:22.

In an impressive all-around display, proving that technique beats strength, Machida defeated Sokoudjou with an arm-triangle choke at 4:20 of the second round.

After the Sokoudjou fight, Machida got a big step up in competition, as he faced Tito Ortiz after this fight.

4. Thiago Silva- UFC 94

At UFC 94, 13-0 Lyoto Machida faced off against 13-0 Thiago Silva in a No. 1 contender's matchup for the light heavyweight title.

In the lead-up to the fight, Silva trash talked, saying that Machida "had no punching power," but Machida sure proved him wrong.

In the first round, while breaking off from a clinch, Machida tripped Silva, threw him to the ground, and hit him with two solid punches from the guard, and knocked Silva out cold.

Machida remained unbeaten, and earned his shot at the title.

3. Rich Franklin- Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003

I'll bet you didn't know these two ever fought, did ya?

On New Years Eve 2003, a 29-year-old, pre-UFC champion, Rich Franklin, faced off against an up-and-coming Lyoto Machida.

At the time of the fight, Franklin was 14-0 [1 NC] and Machida was 2-0.

Nobody had any idea what was about to come.

In the second round, Machida caught Franklin with a straight left while coming in, and rocked him badly.

He followed up with a knee, and a few more punches, and Franklin was out.

It was the biggest win of Machida's very early career.

2. Randy Couture- UFC 129

At UFC 129, Lyoto Machida had one of the most important fights of his career.

He was on a two fight losing streak, and could very well have been fighting for his job when he faced off against the Hall of Famer, Randy "The Natural" Couture.

Everybody knows that Couture's bread and butter is his clinch game, but he could never get a hold of Machida for more than a few seconds.

Then, in the second round, Machida floored Couture with a jumping front kick to the face, and got back to his winning ways.

Definitely one of the most impressive knockouts in MMA history.

1. Rashad Evans- UFC 98

Was there ever a doubt?

At UFC 98, Lyoto Machida faced off against Rashad Evans with the light heavyweight title on the line.

In the second round, Machida chased Evans around the Octagon, landing shot after shot, and Rashad continued to taunt Machida.

Then, with one second left in the round, Machida landed the shot to put Rashad away, and he went down in a heaping pile of unconsciousness.

Not only is this the best win in Machida's career, it's probably one of the best wins in UFC history.