The main event of Bellator 228 saw long-time veterans Gegard Mousasi and Lyoto Machida rematch five years after meeting for the first time in the UFC. Machida won that fight via unanimous decision, and now five years later Mousasi has a victory in the series as he edged out a split decision over Machida in the rematch.
Following Bellator 228, the two legends of MMA posed for a picture together. Check it out below, courtesy of Mousasi’s Instagram.
Mousasi and Machida have been rivals for a long time, so to see them finally end their bad blood and take this photo is certainly nice to see.
After the first fight between these two in the UFC, Mousasi accused Machida of “greasing” and the two were not kind to each other. But Mousasi eventually got his way and got his rematch with Machida in Bellator and showed that he can hang with him by taking home the split decision win. After the fight, the two hugged each other in the Bellator cage.
The win over Machida puts Mousasi in the driver’s seat when it comes to getting a Bellator middleweight title shot in his next fight. Indeed, the former Bellator middleweight champion called out Rafael Lovato Jr. for a rematch after he beat Machida. Mousasi and Machida fought earlier this year in the Bellator cage, with Lovato Jr. taking home a majority decision win in a massive upset.
As for Machida, the loss to Mousasi snapped a four-fight win streak for “The Dragon.” In his 40s now, he’s probably on the downside of his career at this point. But in Bellator he’s still one of the promotion’s top middleweights, and if he decides to move back up to light heavyweight could potentially eye a rematch with champion Ryan Bader, who he holds a previous KO win over in the UFC.
Do you think we will eventually see a trilogy match between Gegard Mousasi and Lyoto Machida?