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Born May 30, 1978 Lyoto Carvalho Machida is the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. This Japanese Brazilian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter from Salvador, Brazil is 6ft 1 inch with a 74 inch reach and is known as “The Dragon”.

At age twelve he started training in the art of Sumo and earned a black belt at age 13 and went on to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at age fifteen. In 2001 he won the Pan American Karate Tournament and other amateur karate tournaments.

In the 2000 Machida was the runner up for the Brazilian Sumo Championships. Machida made his MMA debut in Inoki’s New Japan Pro Wrestling. He then fought runner-up Stephan Bonner in The Ultimate Fighter 1.

With a 3-0 record Machida fought Michael McDonald and Sam Greco then beat B.J. Penn in K-1 Hero’s. Signing with the World Fighting Alliance he began to compete in the U.S. and in his debut fight he defeated Vernon White. After the WFA went out of business the UFC then acquired Machida’s contract.

Winning his UFC debut fighting Sam Hoger and he also beat David Heath and then he also beat Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 76 and was nominated for the 2009 ESPYS “Best Fighter” category. Machida fought Rashad Evans at UFC 98 and was crowned the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

Machida’s first title defense came in 2009 when Mauricia “Shogun” Rua fought him. Machida fought Rua in a rematch for the title for UFC 113 on May 8th in Canada. This match had been postponed for several months and Lyoto Machida eventually lost this rematch to Mauricio Rua by knock-out at the 3:35 mark of round 1.

Saturday, May 29, 2010 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV UFC 114 is takes place. This card features some great matchups and exciting fighters.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against Rashad “Sugar” Evans headlines this fight. This is a 205lb light heavyweight bout that was originally scheduled for UFC 98 and because of Jackson’s film schedule and talk of retirement, the fight was canceled and later rescheduled. The two men constantly butted heads during the Ultimate Fighter show and should prove to be a great grudge match.

Former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin verses Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is co-heading this fight and is also a light heavyweight bout. This will be Nogueuria’s first fight back since suffering a broken ankle in December. Forrest Griffin is coming off an embarrassing loss to Anderson Silva and a split decision win over Tito Ortiz back in November. The wild fighting style of Forrest Griffin and the very technical fighting style of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira should make for a very exciting fight.

The main card will be also featuring John Hathaway vs. Diego Sanchez, Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller, and Dong Hyun Kim vs. Amir Sadollah. The undercard rounds out with fights from Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow, Melvin Guillard vs. Thiago Tavares, Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon, Chris Leben vs. Aaron Simpson, Luiz Cane vs. Cyrille Diabate, Joe Brammer vs. Aaron Riley and Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensen.

Coinciding with the 2010 UFC Fan Expo, which takes place May 28-29 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino fans should be prepared for a great weekend at the expo followed by the explosive fights at UFC 114.