Karate Is… Back? Lyoto Machida’s Brother Chinzo to Make Bellator Debut

A year has passed since Bimmy and Jimmy defeated the Shadow Warriors. Never mind, this isn’t about Double Dragon, this is about Lyoto Machida and his brother Chinzo Machida. I guess there are only a couple of things you can do if Lyoto Machida is your brother. So, it should be no surprise that Chinzo decided to fight MMA. He’s had two wins in Resurrection Fighting Alliance, but hasn’t fought since June 2014, this all will change at Bellator 160.

The Karate expert and big brother of Lyoto, Chinzo will fight Mario Navarro at Featherweight on the Bellator 160 prelims. This is the same card which will feature former Bellator Featherweight champion Patricio Freire and former UFC Lightweight champion Benson Henderson fighting in the main event. It is unclear yet that if Chinzo wins, he gets to fight Abobo at a later date. 

In all seriousness though, It sure does sound like Lytoto and Chinzo Machida are right out of a fighting video game. Just check out this Wikipedia entry. 

Lyoto’s older brother Chinzo is also a Shotokan karate champion and MMA fighter. Lyoto and Chinzo fought in a karate tournament final over ten years ago in which Lyoto gave Chinzo a cheek scar that still exists today.    

Now, that’s either a game plot point or a description of the events in a Chuck Norris movie. If you’d like to see the lesser-known Machida brother fight (who will forever be referred to as Scar from now on), you can watch Bellator 160 on Aug. 26, Hopefully, a street thug won’t have to punch your girlfriend in the gut in order for you to tune in. 

Bellator also sent Fightful.com the following press release:

Chinzo Machida (3-2) will make his promotional debut in featherweight preliminary action at “Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” on August 26 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., against Mario Navarro (4-4).

The fight joins a main card that includes a lightweight main event between fellow superstars Benson Henderson (23-6) and Patricio “Pitbull” (25-3). In addition, undefeated knockout artist A.J. McKee (4-0) clashes with former KOTC titlist Henry Corrales (12-3), while explosive lightweights Saad Awad(19-7) and Derek Anderson (13-2) go toe-to-toe in a matchup that you do not want to miss. Rounding out the televised action is a women’s flyweight encounter pitting Lena Ovchynnikova (11-4) against Jaimelene Nievera (4-1).

During the must-see preliminary portion of the event, Bubba Jenkins (11-2) will look for revenge against Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan (24-6-1) in a featherweight rematch. In welterweight action, both Kevin “Baby Slice” Ferguson Jr. and Joey Davis will both suit up for the first time under the Bellator umbrella and make their professional debuts.

“Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull” takes place on August 26 inside Anaheim California’s Honda Center, and will air LIVE and FREE on SPIKE at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT.

Doors for the event open at 4:45 p.m. PT local time and the first preliminary bout – which streams live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App — begins at 5:00 p.m. PT. Tickets for the event start at just $30 and can be purchased now on Ticketmaster and at the Honda Center Box Office.

Machida, the elder brother of former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, has only fought five times in his career, but is currently riding a two-fight winning streak. Machida impressively finished Brian Wood via flying knee for Resurrection Fighting Alliance in 2014 and on August 26 Machida will be fighting an opponent who’s currently on the opposite end of the spectrum, and has lost his last two outings. If unfamiliar with Machida’s handy work, look no further than his aforementioned finish of Wood here.

Navarro, 33, has competed almost exclusively in his home state of California, with 7 of 8 fights taking place a short drive from his home in Huntington Beach. A two-fight veteran of Bellator MMA, “Handsome” has competed against Cleber Luciano and Brandon Bender under the Scott Coker-led promotion and will look to get back to his winning ways in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 26.