Las Vegas, NV, USA; Chris Weidman celebrates after successfully defending his middleweight title against Lyoto Machida at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Las Vegas, NV, USA; Chris Weidman celebrates after successfully defending his middleweight title against Lyoto Machida at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Reuters

"The Dragon" Lyoto Machida almost recently won the title from Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 175 in July. Now Lyoto Machida says he thinks that Jose Aldo will triumph against Conor McGregor, and Chris Weidman will emerge victorious against Vitor Belfort.

The former light heavyweight champion spoke to Sherdog about his recent loss and said that his strategy to tire the champion was working. "My strategy was to get him tired and then start to impose my game, but he was very smart and managed to score some points," Machida said.

The always-polite Machida is scheduled to face C.B. Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 58 on Dec. 20. Although it appears to be a surprising booking, Machida claimed that C.B. is a tough fighter with a history of beating other Brazilians, and he does not want to overlook those factors.

Machida will pave his way for another UFC title shot, which will be next defended when Weidman finally fights Vitor Belfort at the UFC 184 in February. Thus far, there are no roadblocks in that direction yet, but if the fight happens, Machida thinks that Weidman will emerge victorious. "Vitor has a chance of knocking him out, especially in the beginning of the fight, but I believe time is not on Vitor's side," Machida said.

Meanwhile, although Conor McGregor needs to win against Dennis Siver on January first, fans seem to conclude that the McGregor is the given winner and he will face Jose Aldo next. Talking to MMA Fighting, Machida reveals his thoughts regarding the Aldo vs. McGregor debate. He said that Aldo is technically better than McGregor. Moreover, Machida reiterated that although McGregor is a tough fighter, it's not easy to say that he can beat Aldo because he is too dominant.

After verbally trashing Aldo and all featherweight division contenders, Machida thinks that McGregor can promote himself however he wants and he personally does not think that he is a bad person. Moreover, he claimed that McGregor is right in promoting himself that way and that people need to respect him. Undoubtedly, McGregor has been doing a good job in promoting himself and making headlines, be it in or out of the Octagon.

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