Lyoto Machida

is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and karateka. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as a UFC Middleweight Championship title challenger. He most recently competed in Bellator MMA in the Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. Early life Lyoto was born in Salvador, Bahia state, as the third son of Shotokan karate master Yoshizo Machida (町田嘉三), the highly ranked head of the Brazilian branch of the Japan Karate Association. Yoshizo moved to Brazil from Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan when he was 22 years old, where he met and married Lyoto's Brazilian mother, Ana Cláudia. Growing up in Belém, Lyoto began training in karate at the age of 3 and earned his black belt at the age of 13. He also began training in sumo wrestling at the age of 8, and then BJJ and boxing at 16. He won a number of amateur karate tournaments, including the 2001 Pan American Karate tournament. Later he travelled to Thailand to study Muay Thai, to Japan to study grappling at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Dojo and finally to United States to pursue his UFC career. He was the runner-up in the 2000 Brazilian Sumo Championships in the 115 kg division. As an adult, he became Brazilian Champion twice, and placed second in the South American Championship. He defeated American fighter and jiu-jitsu black belt Rafael Lovato Jr. at L.A. Sub X. In addition to his sumo and karate achievements, he has a college degree in Physical Education. Machida trained at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling L.A. Dojo for six months in 2003 where he lived with future WWE wrestlers Shinsuke Nakamura and Bryan Danielson.