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Back in 2013 at UFC 163 in Rio de Janerio, Phil Davis beat Lyoto Machida by unanimous decision. Many in attendance thought that "The Dragon" did enough at home to secure the win.
Fast forward to the Mohegan Sun Arena, September 11th, 2020 and the duo finally got to run it back in Bellator 245's main event. The battle of two former Light Heavyweight champions was fought on a constant loop, of an array of kicking attacks.
Lyoto Machida would start the rounds trying to maintain the center of the cage only to then have Phil Davis wind up dominating the space. Throughout the 15 minutes, there were no takedowns.
And the final tally saw Lyoto Machida with a 25-22 advantage in terms of kicks landed. Although in real-time, it seemed as if Phil Davis landed more.
Phil Davis, who's now on a three-fight winning streak, controlled the center of the cage and distance with his version of the Lyoto Machida front kick.
Eventually, that helped set up some stiff right hands by "Mr. Wonderful" including one in the second round that stung the Brazilian and had him back peddling. Now in 28 career fights, Phil Davis has still not been finished.
Midway through Round 3, Machida was working his way inside Davis' range, thanks to him not throwing that front kick as much. However, Machida was unable to do anything there. And as he'd step back, Phil Davis looked to let his hands fly more.
This time around the rematch between these two could have easily been another unanimous decision. However, it wound up being a split one.
Afterwards, Phil Davis wasn't specific with John McCarthy on who he'd like to fight next.
But there are two choices for him. Running back another fight and try to avenge his 2018 loss to now champion, Vadim Nemkov, or Bellator newcomer Corey Anderson.
At 42 years old, the loss means Machida's Bellator record stands at 2-2 and puts him on a two-fight losing streak as well.
