Underrated stat: Lyoto Machida sold total of 5 million PPVs for the UFC

[gosuasus]

Machida often gets overlooked in terms of star power because of short lived “Machida era”, but he used to be a larger draw than any of the current champions and Instagram divas who can't even crack half a milly.

That 2007-2011 era (post-Liddell / pre-Jones LHW division) defined by the great rivalries used to sell a ton for the UFC with Rampage, Griffin, Evans, Machida, Shogun at the forefront.

 

[whooty]

Loved that era of LHW, and then Jones beat them all like they didn't even belong in the cage with him. Insane looking back.

 

[GSP_37]

I used to order PPV when Lyoto was on. He did go on a nice wrecking streak towards the belt.

 

[Leinster Rugby]

he was entertaining as fook. broke my heart watching him decline

cheers to any Machida fans still out there

 

[The_Renaissance]

The Machida Era seemed to last like two minutes, in hindsight.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

There was a revolving door of 205 champions around Machida's time. That meant the UFC had a lot of credible people to put in the main event.

Machida was always a credible opponent, so it was easy to put him in title shots even off of short win streaks, which means a lot of PPVs.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Loved that era of LHW, and then Jones beat them all like they didn't even belong in the cage with him. Insane looking back.

Even more insane is people try to say those guys sucked. Like half of the top ten 205ers are from that era.

 

[lefthighkick01]

Even more insane is people try to say those guys sucked. Like half of the top ten 205ers are from that era.

I mean insight, to me a bunch of those guys that fought in LHW at that time could have easily dropped to MW. Rashas, lyoto, Shogun, a few others

 

[Doctor Grudge]

I mean insight, to me a bunch of those guys that fought in LHW at that time could have easily dropped to MW. Rashas, lyoto, Shogun, a few others

There are 205ers today that can drop down to 185. 185 and 205 is one of the easiest weight classes to jump from.

Aside from that, it seems odd to say someone like Shogun Rua, who was probably the best 205er up to that point and never fought anywhere else is a middle weight.

 

[Harlekin]

Good numbers.
Events were a lot rarer and cheaper back then though. And less free events and MMA overall.
That's why today's champs often have lower numbers.

 

[Judge Lance Ito]

That fight against Thiago Silva was one of the best UFC performances ever.
He was literally poetry in motion.

 

[gosuasus]

That fight against Thiago Silva was one of the best UFC performances ever.
He was literally poetry in motion.

Indeed. Outstruck him at range, controlled him in the clinch, scored multiple takedowns, and finished him with a leaping punch while Silva was on the ground.

 

[noc]

Above 400.000 PPVs is very good, a draw

 

[HHJ]

The Machida Era seemed to last like two minutes, in hindsight.

You know, this is something Joe Rogan said, and people actually use that to disparage Machida's career cos hardy fuckin har.

Same as when he got the nod against Shogun, like he's a fuckin judge and had anything to do with Shogun getting screwed.

The dude beat alot of other good fighters after that too.

MMA fans are such bitches sometimes lol

 

[RockyLockridge]

Man, Machida I felt would have gone futher as a MW, I wish he were there earlier.... but anderson...

 

[STAY GOLD]

He didn’t headline UFC 94 and wasn’t the main selling point although they did sell his fight as someone losing their undefeated streak.

 

[Thy]

But i didn't buy or watch a single one of those events cause of machida. He just happened to be on those cards.

 

[ejazahmednit]

Machida was the first fighter I became a fan of
Still a fan

 

[jeskola]

How many of those did Machida main event? I guess all of them with (co) being Co main?

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

Would have been a billion if the Machida Era lasted 3 more years...