In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Lyoto Machida spoke about his upcoming fight with Chael Sonnen, his short and long term goals at Bellator. In short, not just playing around to make money, he’s at Bellator to be champion, most likely champ-champ.

Here’s what he had to say:

“As I said I look to be busy. And in order to be busy I have no choice at times. So, I said to Bellator what I would like to fight, even if it was to be at 205 (pounds). I said I would accept any fight. Bellator came with Chael’s name and I said ‘This is going to be great.’ It is going to be outstanding because, especially with it being in New York at Madison Square Garden, it means a lot to me. I have fought many different places in the world. Japan, Brazil, Europe, England, but nothing that compares to Madison Square Garden. I saw this in the movies. In Ali’s fight. In Tyson’s fight. So now is the time to be busy and do it on this stage.”

 “Whatever comes first. What comes first, I’ll be ready. I would like to be a champion. That is one of my goals in Bellator. I did not come to Bellator just to play around, to just be here to make money. That is not my purpose here. My purpose here is to be a champion and to be an inspiration to all the fighters. That is why I still wake up every morning and train with a lot of will and motivation becuase I want to help other people. I just, I don’t want to just help myself.”

 “I would love to fight Ryan Bader again. He is the heavyweight champion to now. He is huge. He has grown a lot and improved a lot. I believe that is a fight that everyone would like to see.”

When Lyoto was asked whether he would want to become a ‘Cham-champ’ in Bellator, he said:

“That is the goal! That is the goal man.”

Lyoto Machida talking to MMA Fighting