Fourteen straight victories inside of the Octagon bought Lyoto Machida a chance at the ultracoveted UFC light heavyweight belt. It wasn't long before the Japanese-Brazilian fighter became a household name (in MMA households, anyway), giving birth to the what Joe Rogan called the "Machida era."
But that was in 2009 when MySpace was still a thing, humanity was down to its last three years before the apocalypse, and we were one year away from the end of the "Machida era."
Five years and three title losses later, here Machida stands, the fourth-ranked middleweight in the UFC.
Six months removed from a competitive but failed attempt at reeling in Chris Weidman's middleweight crown, Father Time would tell us that the aging 36-year-old fighter's days as a title contender at middleweight have all but come to an end. Not only is he a fight removed from his latest championship loss, but the middleweight karate savant relies heavily on his speedy counterstriking to keep his opponents guessing and keep himself rising in the UFC's divisional rankings.
Speed and age don't often coincide with each other (the Baltimore Ravens' 35-year-old wide receiver Steve Smith notwithstanding—that dude's never slowing down).
| Rank | Fighter | Last 5 Fights |
| Champion | Chris Weidman | 5-0 |
| 1 | Anderson Silva | 3-2 |
| 2 | Ronaldo Souza | 5-0 |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort | 4-1 |
| 4 | Lyoto Machida | 3-2 |
| 5 | Luke Rockhold | 4-1 |
| 6 | Yoel Romero | 5-0 |
| 7 | Tim Kennedy | 4-1 |
| 8 | Gegard Mousasi | 3-2 |
| 9 | Michael Bisping | 3-2 |
| 10 | C.B. Dollaway | 4-1 |
UFC
There are also several middleweight contenders waiting for their shot at the title. First up is Vitor Belfort, who if victorious would likely tussle with current champion Chris Weidman in an immediate rematch. That ties the belt up for at least the next six months.
But let us, for just a second, assume the title isn't surrounded by debates tied to controversial split decisions, fluke knockouts or unpredictable leg breaks. Let us live in a happy world with undisputed champions who stay healthy and fight at least three times a year.
Even after asking for all that, the title picture remains pretty murky.
Between Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Yoel Romero and Luke Rockhold, the 2015 title bouts have pretty much signed themselves (in a pretty complicated order, I can only imagine). There's even former middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who with a dominant victory over Nick Diaz could punch his ticket for a shot at the middleweight crown at some point in late 2015 or early 2016.
And let us not forget about the latest superstar addition to the UFC's middleweight ranks: CM Punk.
Will Machida ever fight for another UFC title?
OK, all bad jokes aside, title hopes are still looking pretty bleak for Machida, who will likely be even further on the wrong side of 30 before he can viably challenge for the belt.
And this is all assuming he doesn't lose a step and continues on his winning ways. It's not completely implausible, particularly because we have no evidence to assume he or his body have any intention of slowing down. I mean, just look at what a 37-year-old Belfort or 39-year-old Silva have been able to accomplish in the twilight years of their illustrious careers.
First things first, Machida has to get past 10th-ranked C.B. Dollaway this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 58 in Barueri, Brazil. Until then, it's probably best we put the title talks on hold.
Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report MMA. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University's student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.
