Report: Lyoto Machida returns, meets Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night 119 in Sao Paulo

It appears a former light heavyweight champion will return to headline the UFC’s card in Brazil in October.

According to a report from Combate, former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida (22-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) will return from a suspension to take on Derek Brunson (17-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 119 in Sao Paulo. UFC officials have not yet made a formal announcement of the booking.

UFC Fight Night 119 takes place Oct. 28 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo. The event airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. Already set for the card is a light heavyweight bout between Misha Cirkunov and former title challenger Glover Teixeira.

It’s been more than two years since Machida last fought. The former 205-pound champion, who lost that belt more than seven years ago, has dropped three of his past four fights. He’s 3-3 since his move from light heavyweight to middleweight in October 2013.

After starting his 185-pound tenure with a knockout win over Mark Munoz and a “Fight of the Night” decision win over Gegard Mousasi, he got a title shot against then-champ Chris Weidman, but lost a decision. He rebounded with a 62-second bonus-winning TKO of C.B. Dollaway in December 2014, but then was submitted by Luke Rockhold in April 2015 on Rockhold’s path to the middleweight belt.

In June 2015, he was knocked out by Yoel Romero in the third round of the UFC Fight Nighit 70 main event. After that, he was booked for a fight with Dan Henderson at UFC on FOX 19, but when he declared the use of a banned substance, he was pulled from the card. Ultimately, he received an 18-month suspension from USADA. His return in October will be just three weeks after he becomes eligible to fight again. The bout will be his seventh consecutive UFC main event.

Brunson got back in the win column in June at UFC Fight Night 110 in New Zealand when he knocked out Dan Kelly in 76 seconds. That snapped a two-fight skid that saw him knocked out by Robert Whittaker in the UFC Fight Night 101 main event this past November, then lose a decision to Anderson Silva at UFC 208 in February.

Prior to those losses, Brunson had won seven of his first eight fights in the UFC and was on a five-fight winning streak, including four consecutive knockouts of Ed Herman, Sam Alvey, Roan Carneiro and Uriah Hall.

For more on UFC Fight Night in Sao Paulo, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.