UFC 140 Fight Card: Does Lyoto Machida Have Any Chance Against Jon Jones?

It was May 2nd, 2003, when Lyoto Machida entered the sport of mixed martial arts for the very first time to take on Kengo Watanabe.

Machida was declared victorious via unanimous decision as he would continue in his success, defeating the likes of Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin and Michael McDonald in his next three bouts.

But, it wasn't until February of 2007 when Machida joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship to take on Sam Hoger in his Octagon debut.

"The Dragon" would defeat Hoger and his next five opponents en route to earning a light heavyweight title shot against Rashad Evans at UFC 98.

Machida would knockout Evans in the second round of action and was announced the new 205-pound champion.

Things took a turn for the worse as Machida would eventually lose his title to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 113, and also fell to defeat in his next bout to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 123.

Machida bounced back from two consecutive defeats in his spectacular win via flying front kick over Randy Couture.

However, now Machida will take on his toughest opponent to date in Jon Jones—but, Machida won't use that as an excuse as he is in extreme preparations for the current champion, Jones.

It was recently revealed that Machida has been training with Luiz Carlos Dorea, a former Olympic boxer in hopes of regaining his desired title.

In fact, Dorea compared Machida to that of Muhammad Ali when he stated, "They are few, like Anderson Silva, Junior dos Santos, Muhammad Ali, Roy Jones Jr. I have faith in Lyoto, I believe we'll bring a fourth title belt to Brazil."

However, Machida has been inconsistent as of late, losing two of his last three fights.

Machida's inconsistency leads UFC fans to one question...

Does Lyoto Machida stand any chance against Jon Jones?

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