After his first two fights in the UFC didn’t go his way, Caio Machado is dropping to light heavyweight for UFC Edmonton. While that may seem like a big ask for a man who weighed in at 251lbs for his last fight, Machado said that it was always part of the plan for him.
“It was actually a conversation for me and my team before I got a shot in the UFC,” he explained. “Right after I got the BFL belt, I was already planning on doing it, but it was kind of around the same time COVID hit, so I had a tough time finding light heavyweights in Canada.”
Then after things cleared up a bit and opponents were more readily available, the momentum was too much to abandon for him. He felt like walking away from the heavyweight division would cause him to take a step backward. However, with a couple of fights narrowly falling the wrong way, he feels like he now has the perfect time to make things right.
“After my last two fight – I felt both were tight decisions – the biggest things I felt like I had a disadvantage with is the size,” Machado said. “So I decided instead of being a smaller heavyweight, I would be a big light heavyweight.”
While he didn’t immediately tell the UFC that’s what he was thinking, they both wound up on the same page by chance.
“It was kind of a mutual conversation. In May or early June I got offered to fight Junior Tafa at UFC Australia in August,” he explained, noting that he had to pass due to moving back to Brazil at the time. “When I said no to the fight, they said that’s a good fight for you, but if you want to wait a bit longer, why don’t you go 205lbs?”
Since he had already been planning on it, they agreed and got him all settled in his new division. Now, having made the weight successfully, he’s ready to dish out some heavyweight-style punishment at light heavyweight.
“Second round KO. The second he starts trying to get me out, he’s going to make a mistake and I’m going to find that chin,” Machado said. “I hit light a heavyweight, even if I’m a bit lighter.”
You can catch Machado’s fight with Brendson Ribiero as part of the UFC Edmonton main card. That portion of the card gets kicking at 8pm EST on ESPN+.
