Lyoto Machida has shut down the rumors of being put in a coma after his June 2015 knockout loss to Yoel Romero at UFC Fight Night 70.

“Soldier of God” recently claimed on his Overdogs Espanol podcast that the former UFC light heavyweight champion “was in a coma” after “he suffered brutal damage” during their middleweight main event in Hollywood, Fla. However, Machida told MMA Fighting Romero’s recollection is inaccurate.

Machida did suffer damage in that fight, after being finished with nasty elbows in the third round, but said he was never in critical condition.

“I heard about [Romero’s comments] but I didn’t watch [the video], but that’s not true at all,” Machida said. “What happened was, I broke my nose in that fight and had surgery. But there was no coma or anything like that. That never happened.”

Machida dropped to 1-3 in his past four with that defeat to Romero, and the Cuban talent said “after he fought me, he wasn’t the same.” Machida had surgery the day after the fight, and lost his following bout to Derek Brunson before rebounding with wins in a row, including highlight-reel knockouts over Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen.

“It makes no sense that a fighter would get in a coma and then fight like 20 times after that,” Machida laughed. “I had nose surgery because I broke my nose. I had stay in Miami for a week — because I lived in Los Angeles and couldn’t fly with the nasal packing. That’s basically what happened. It’s normal stuff for us that fight, right?”

Machida, 26-12 as a professional MMA fighter, hasn’t fought since losing to Fabian Edwards in May 2022. He’s currently slated to serve as a team manager on the 2025 season of the Global Fight League, leading the Sao Paulo team alongside coach Andre Pederneiras.