UFC veterans Chael Sonnen and Lyoto Machida are scheduled to collide in a light heavyweight showdown at Bellator NYC on July 14. Yet on Wednesday afternoon, Sonnen took to Twitter and cast doubt on the status of this matchup.
“Machida: OUT,” Sonnen wrote in a Tweet that seemed to imply Machida had withdrawn from the fight.
Lyoto Machida, evidently keen to assure he’d be showing up for work on July 14, quickly responded:
“I’m 100% in,” he wrote. “See you soon.”
Unfortunately, Machida seemed to miss the second half of Chael’s original Tweet, which made it clear that he was only trolling the Brazilian — and the rest of us.
“….of his MIND if he thinks he can bang w/the GANGSTER…” Sonnen added in a followup Tweet.
Chael Sonnen will enter this fight with the hopes of rebounding from a TKO loss to heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko in the semifinals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix. Prior to this loss, he picked up decision victories over Wanderlei Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Lyoto Machida, meanwhile, will look to build on the momentum of a victory over former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho in his promotional debut. In his next most recent fight, which occurred under the UFC banner, he scored a highlight reel knockout victory over fellow Brazilian legend Vitor Belfort.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 4/24/2019.