{"id":276303,"date":"2018-05-12T22:22:26","date_gmt":"2018-05-13T05:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=276303"},"modified":"2018-05-13T10:20:12","modified_gmt":"2018-05-13T17:20:12","slug":"mma-community-reacts-to-lyoto-machidas-insane-knockout-of-vitor-belfort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/lyoto-machida\/mma-community-reacts-to-lyoto-machidas-insane-knockout-of-vitor-belfort\/","title":{"rendered":"MMA Community reacts to Lyoto Machida’s insane knockout of Vitor Belfort"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UFC light heavyweight champions Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort squared off in the first bout of tonight’s UFC 224 pay-per-view main card from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.<\/p>\n

After a tentative opening round of action, “The Dragon” proceeded to turn up the heat in round number two. <\/p>\n

Machida would fire off some solid low kicks before switching his stance and then promptly landing a sensational front kick to the face of Belfort. That strike sent “The Phenom” crashing to the canvas and Machida mercifully opted against following up with any more punishment.<\/p>\n

Machida’s jaw-dropping knockout of Belfort<\/a> was very reminiscent of when Anderson Silva knocked out “The Phenom” at UFC 126 in February of 2011.<\/p>\n

After being attended to by doctors, Belfort would address his home crowd and subsequently announce his expected retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts.<\/p>\n

Here is how the MMA community reacted to Machida’s amazing knockout and the retirement of a legend in Vitor Belfort.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/UFCEurope\/status\/995492921804648448<\/p>\n

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Vitor Belfort leaves his gloves in the middle of the Octagon and seemingly calls it a day. That's the end of his UFC run but I'd bet good money we'll see him compete in MMA yet. #UFC224<\/a><\/p>\n

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) May 13, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n