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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Not many MMA fighters can claim to have better front kick knockouts than Lyoto Machida. Michael Chandler might be an exception, according to “The Dragon. Machida was impressed with what he saw from Chandler against Tony Ferguson at UFC 274, grading the former Bellator champ’s fight-stopping front kick a 10 out of 10. “I’m the type of guy that sees the martial arts in a global way,” Machida told MMA Fighting. “‘Oh, this mae geri, this front kick had no technique, he kicked from down up.’ Did it work? It did. If it worked, it’s good. “We tend to diminish [others]. It’s not easy to land a kick like that. [People criticize,] ‘If his feet was like that, or his knee was a bit bent.’ I don’t care. What matters to me is how effective it was. [If] I’m going out to hunt and I have the best weapon, but I wasn’t effective, what’s the point? [If] my weapon isn’t that good, but I went there and killed the animal? That means I was effective, that I did it well.” Chandler stopped Ferguson 17 seconds into the second round of their lightweight showdown earlier this month in Phoenix. The kick was similar to that used by “The Dragon” in stopping Vitor Belfort in 2018. Machida also finished Randy Couture with a crane kick in 2011. Michael Chandler just sent Tony Ferguson to the SHADOW REALM pic.twitter.com/8r3b9JMPqC— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 8, 2022 A former UFC light heavyweight who recently completed his Bellator contract with a loss to Fabian Edwards, Machida admits he wasn’t so open-minded about techniques in the past. “I’ve looked at things that way in the past, but now I don’t,” Machida said. “Martial arts, like the name says, is art. And like art, anything can come from it. You look at a painting from Leonardo da Vinci and sometimes you don’t see beauty, but someone with more sensibility than you will be able to see something there. ‘This is so beautiful, look at what this person thought.’ “It’s the same thing with a kick like this. I look at martial art in a holistic way, you know? Did it work well? So it’s a 10.” THE DRAGON ROARS AGAIN! @LyotoMachidaFW #UFC224 pic.twitter.com/ILXkb9DYvo— UFC (@ufc) May 13, 2018

Eagle FC Junior dos Santos is moving on from the disappointment of his Eagle FC debut. The former UFC heavyweight champion lost to Yorgan De Castro on Friday night at Eagle FC 47 in a fight he was likely winning before a third-round shoulder injury rendered him unable to continue. It was another unlucky break for dos Santos, who was competing for the first time outside of the UFC since 2008 and has now lost five consecutive bouts. Dos Santos addressed the difficult setback over the weekend with an update on social media, explaining that his shoulder is now “back into place” and that he felt better in the cage against De Castro than he’s felt “in a long, long time.” “My shoulder is back into place,” dos Santos said on Instagram. “In this position like this, I’m not feeling any pain. I already talked to my doctor, we’re going to do some exams and figure out what’s going to be the procedures to get this thing better as soon as possible. But before going to bed, I would like to share with you guys that I was feeling so happy. I was feeling very good during the fight, like I haven’t felt in a long, long time.” Despite his injury, dos Santos received ample praise from his new promoter, Eagle FC president Khabib Nurmagomedov, who described the Brazilian as “looking amazing” before the unlucky turn of events. Nurmagomedov said post-fight that he believes a potential co-promoted bout against Fedor Emelianenko with the help of Bellator MMA is “still viable” despite dos Santos’ loss, and that he’d like to do the fight at the end of 2022. Nurmagomedov said he is meeting with Bellator president Scott Coker this coming week to discuss the potential cross-promotional matchup between the heavyweight legends. Dos Santos’ full post-fight statement can be read and watched below. “Hey guys, I’m home already. I took my shower, I had my dinner, I’m ready to get some rest now. My shoulder is back into place. In this position like this, I’m not feeling any pain. I already talked to my doctor, we’re going to do some exams and figure out what’s going to be the procedures to get this thing better as soon as possible. But before going to bed, I would like to share with you guys that I was feeling so happy. I was feeling very good during the fight, like I haven’t felt in a long, long time. And it was good. It was good because I was able to deliver everything that I worked for. The hard work we put in the gym, I was able to bring inside the octagon on the day of the fight, and things were working good for us until we had this injury.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Junior Cigano Dos Santos ️➕ (@juniorcigano) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Junior Cigano Dos Santos ️➕ (@juniorcigano)

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting Joanna Jedrzejczyk has always been realistic about the time she has left in the sport. Even when she was on top of the world as UFC strawweight champion, the now 34-year-old Polish fighter was honest enough to admit that she wouldn’t be able to compete forever. While she didn’t exactly put a deadline on her career, Jedrzejczyk acknowledged her desire to eventually start a family while as well as the toll fighting takes on the body and mind over the years. That said, Jedrzejczyk is feeling rejuvenated after signing a new long-term deal with the UFC, but it’s also possible that will be the last contract she’ll ink before her career is over. “For sure [it could be my final contract],” Jedrzejczyk told MMA Fighting. “It’s a six-fight deal. But this fight is not going to be my last fight or the second or the third — I feel a second wind. “I’m turning 35 this year and I never felt so good. Physically, mentally, I’m just happy.” The constant work demanded to either remain champion or pursue the belt as one of the top contenders in her division requires Jedrzejczyk to make a lot of personal and professional sacrifices. Every time she competes, she leaves her home, her family, and a multitude of endorsement and business opportunities in her native Poland so she can train full-time at American Top Team in Florida. She wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything, because Jedrzejczyk loves the grind. But she’s not oblivious to the delicate balance that needs to be struck between her two worlds. “All of the opportunities I have outside of the gym and outside of the octagon, the money I can make isn’t easy because I have to work my ass so hard,” Jedrzejczyk said. “But somehow you need this extra motivation to get back to the octagon. “I can’t just go there and get my face beat up again for little money and no exposure, etc. There has to be something extra beside the love and the desire I have to this sport. I feel like I’m still one of the greatest in the strawweight division and I just want to go there and prove that on June 11.” Despite her accomplishments — including the longest reign as UFC strawweight champion in history — Jedrzejczyk still struggles to reconcile with her place in the sport because she is often reminded that she hasn’t been the champion in five years. As she approaches her return in a rematch against Zhang Weili at UFC 275, Jedrzejczyk is content with all that she’s done, but believes she’s far from finished when it comes to her plans to add more accolades to her résumé. “I used to like to be on the go and not sit with my legacy,” Jedrzejczyk explained. “Now I approach [it like] the love in my life. My sports legacy is so big and some people are still saying I’m not the champion anymore. OK, but I’ve been there and I know my value. This is amazing. “That’s why I feel pure now going into this camp and this fight. I love Florida, I love American Top Team, I love Dan Lambert and all of these people, and it feels like I don’t want to leave. I want to spend more time training, to be around here, these people and fighting.” After enduring a 25-minute war with Zhang the last time around, which saw her absorb 170 strikes across five rounds, Jedrzjeczyk is anxious to avoid that kind of damage in the rematch. That punishment on fight night also came after an intense training camp where she had already pushed her body to the limit before she ever set foot in the UFC octagon. It all adds up, which is why Jedzrejczyk was so adamant about getting paid her worth for this new contract as she continues to recognize the kind of potential risk she takes each and every time she competes. “The hard work is so many weeks before the fight,” Jedrzejczyk said. “The fight is a pleasure, but it’s the hard part as well. We get a lot of damage and every fight, every camp takes something from us physically, mentally. “We have to know our value. I set my new goals and to protect myself but I feel like the next fight is going to be even better.”

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC Matt Brown has only missed weight one time in his UFC career, but it turns out there were bizarre circumstances surrounding that particular fight with Robbie Lawler back in 2014. During a recent appearance on The Fighter vs. The Writer, Brown revealed what actually happened including a rogue person wandering around backstage checking the weights of the athletes except for one major problem — they didn’t actually work for the California State Athletic Commission. Check out what Brown had to say about the situation and how the UFC dealt with the problem afterwards.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC LAS VEGAS - UFC strawweight Sam Hughes reacts to her third-round TKO of Elise Reed at UFC Vegas 55, her post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier and more.