Lyoto Machida wants one last shot at a major mixed martial arts championship.
In what could serve as a Bellator MMA light heavyweight title eliminator, “The Dragon” will rematch Phil Davis in the Bellator 245 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The two Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans met once previously, with Davis posting a unanimous decision over Machida at Bellator 163 in 2013.
Machida, 42, has rattled off four wins across his past five appearances, beating back talk that it was time for him to hang up the gloves. The Brazilian karateka last competed at Bellator 228, where he dropped a contentious split decision to former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi on Sept. 28. Machida owns a 2-1 mark inside the Bellator cage.
A four-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Penn State University, Davis has rebounded from a November 2018 decision defeat to current Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov with back-to-back victories over Liam McGeary and Karl Albrektsson. “Mr. Wonderful” operates out of the Alliance MMA camp in Chula Vista, California, where he trains alongside former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, reigning One Championship heavyweight titleholder Brandon Vera and others. Davis has compiled an 8-2 record since he joined the Bellator roster in 2015.
Bellator 245 “Davis vs. Machida 2”—scheduled to be simulcast on Dazn and the Paramount Network at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT—will also feature a women’s featherweight co-main event pitting Cat Zingano against Gabrielle Holloway, a middleweight tilt pairing Ed Ruth with Taylor Johnson and a welterweight scrap slotting Raymond Daniels opposite Peter Stanonik. The four-fight undercard will stream to Dazn and the Bellator YouTube channel at 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT.
A closer look at the Bellator 245 particulars:
THE LINEUP
205: Phil Davis vs. Lyoto Machida145: Cat Zingano vs. Gabrielle Holloway
185: Ed Ruth vs. Taylor Johnson
170: Raymond Daniels vs. Peter Stanonik
205: Rafael Carvalho vs. Alex Polizzi
265: Tyrell Fortune vs. Jack May
140: Keith Lee vs. Vinicius Zani
145: Leslie Smith vs. Amanda Bell
THE RUNDOWN
• Prime Picks• Weigh-in Report
• By The Numbers: Davis vs. Machida
• 5 Defining Moments: Phil Davis
• Media Day Interview: Lyoto Machida
Related Coverage »
• Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
• Sherdog’s Pound-for-Pound Top 10 Rankings
• Sherdog’s WMMA Pound-for-Pound Top 10 Rankings
• Matches to Make After Bellator 244