[3][4][5] In 2011, Machida moved to the U.S. to train at Lake Arrowhead, California's Ice Castle, where he was coached mainly by Anthony Liu.

He won his first senior GP title at the 2012 Cup of China, where he beat former World champion Daisuke Takahashi.

He placed first in the short and free programs, setting personal bests in both and winning by 25 points over second-place finisher, Adam Rippon of the United States.

He would finish 2nd at the 2013–14 Japan Figure Skating Championships, securing a spot on the Japanese Olympic and World teams for the first time.

[2] Machida significantly improved his personal best short program score at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan and ranked first in the segment.

[5][9] In June 2018, Machida announced that his final appearance as a show skater would be Japan Open 2018 and Carnival on Ice 2018 on October 6, 2018.