Lyoto Machida Talks About Getting Slapped By Japanese Wrestling Legend Antonio Inoki

Former UFC Lightweight Champion and current Bellator Middleweight Lyoto Machida recently spoke to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.

During their discussion Machida talked about what happened after one of his first MMA fights back in 2003, when he was approached and slapped by the Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki and the NJPW Dojo project.

“Every Japanese guy, they want to be slapped by Antonio Inoki because there’s a story that he slapped the face of a little boy and the boy had great success in his career. Now everyone wants to be slapped by Inoki because they want to be successful. I wasn’t expecting in that moment. He was slapping a lot of guys in front of me – like Kazuyuki Fujita. I didn’t expect it then, I was just there to bow to him! Suddenly he slapped my face three times. Maybe because of that, I had success in my career.”

You can see Inoki slap Machida after his fight in the video below.

Machida was also asked whether or not he received any pro wrestling offers, as has been the case for many other MMA stars.

“Not at all. I left Japan and put all my focus in MMA. I never had any offers to fight in pro wrestling after that.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Lyoto Machida embedded in the video below.

Check out our brand new store at PRO WRESTLING TEES, show us your support and buy a shirt. You can visit our store by clicking here.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter @BodySlamNet and on Instagram @BodySlamDotNet

Also check us out on Facebook and give us a like and share by clicking HERE.