[7] 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.

Machida trained at the Inoki L.A. Dojo for six months in 2003 where he lived with future professional wrestlers Shinsuke Nakamura and Bryan Danielson.

[12] Machida began his career in mixed martial arts under the management of legendary professional wrestler and MMA pioneer Antonio Inoki in Japan.

Following this, Machida went on to compete for the K-1 promotion, where he beat kickboxers Michael McDonald (by submission) and Sam Greco (by split decision) under MMA rules.

[20] Years after the bout, Dana White revealed that the only time he ever awarded a personal check of his to a fighter was to Machida, for defeating Ortiz.

Instead, a scheduled fight between former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson and Keith Jardine would determine Machida's title fate.

A victory for Jackson would earn him a fight with champion Rashad Evans, but a win for Jardine would mean Machida would be awarded with a title shot.

Machida then met Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans in another clash of undefeated fighters on the main event of UFC 98.

[29] Pride Fighting Championship's 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix winner Maurício Rua was then selected as Machida's first title challenger.

[31][32] There were also MMA fighters in attendance who voiced support for the decision, among them were several of Machida's training partners, including Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Junior dos Santos, José Aldo, Rafael Cavalcante and Anderson Silva.

Both FightMetric and CompuStrike explicitly state on their websites that they are not intended to be used to judge MMA events, and are merely a way to track a fighter's activity.

[35] Because of the controversy surrounding the close decision, on 8 May 2010, at UFC 113 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Machida and Rua rematched, seven months after their original fight.

In the third round, Machida landed a counter left that stunned Rampage and followed it with a flurry of punches, kicks and knees that backed Jackson into the cage.

[41] In the post-fight interview, Rampage expressed that the fairest thing would be to offer Machida an immediate rematch, as he felt he had lost the fight.

"[45] Machida defeated Couture via KO with a jumping front kick to the face at 1:02 of the second round, earning his third Knockout of the Night bonus award.

Dana White commented that Machida's performance versus Couture put him back into the mix at the top of the division, but stated that he was not yet the next in line for a title shot.

[57] Machida then faced The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner Ryan Bader on 4 August 2012, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 4.

[68] UFC President Dana White stated shortly after the fight that he had Machida winning all three rounds,[69] and later told Yahoo!

[71] ESPN released a similar analysis tracking each fighter's activity in each category, and reporting the 29–28 victory scored by the three judges at ringside.

[75] Machida defeated Muñoz via head kick KO at the 3:10 mark of the first round, earning him his fourth Knockout of the Night award.

[76][77] Machida was praised for demonstrating class and sportsmanship by not throwing any additional punches to the grounded Muñoz after knocking him down before the referee stopped the fight.

[78] In his second bout in the middleweight division, Machida returned to Brazil and faced former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi in the main event of UFC Fight Night 36 on 15 February 2014.

[85] After Weidman had controlled much of the action throughout the first three rounds with his wrestling and relentless pressure, Machida began to find his range on his strikes in the fourth.

[94] However, on 13 April, the UFC announced that Machida declared the usage of a banned substance – 7-Keto-DHEA – during an out-of-competition sample collection the week prior.

[96] On 13 August 2016, Machida faced former Strikeforce middleweight champion and UFC welterweight contender, Jake Shields, in a grappling only benefit event called Submit Cancer.

After gaining top control, Shields submitted the much larger Machida by inside heel hook with just 30 seconds left in the match.

[107] On 4 April 2019, it was announced that Machida would be facing Chael Sonnen in a light heavyweight bout at Bellator 222 on 14 June 2019 at Madison Square Garden.

His style is based mainly on tactics using Shotokan karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but also integrates techniques from wrestling and sumo,[120] which Machida says makes him "fully prepared for any situation" in the Octagon.

[128] Machida defied expectations at UFC 94,[130][134] where he earned Knockout of the Night honors for his first-round stoppage of then-undefeated Thiago Silva.

[136][137][138] After knocking out Rashad Evans at UFC 98, in the post fight interview with Joe Rogan, Machida announced to his fans, "Karate is back!