Lyoto Machida admits he was 'out' against Luke Rockhold, 'couldn't hear' after second round massacre

I think most mixed martial arts (MMA) fans already knew that Lyoto Machida was in trouble after the first round of his fight against Luke Rockhold (watch it), which took place last weekend (April 18, 2015) in the UFC on FOX 15 main event from Newark, New Jersey.

How much trouble?

Hindsight is 20/20 and blah, blah, blah, but it now seems the fight could have been justifiably stopped once the Brazilian was floored by his younger and much bigger foe, especially after an onslaught of ground-and-pound left him "dizzy" and unable to hear.

"The Dragon" talks to Combate (via Bloody Elbow):

"Actually, I was really out of the fight by the end of the first round. I think he hit me in the back of my head or something, I felt an impact. From then on, I was really dizzy, I started to see things differently. I didn't have enough time to recover for the second round and came back like that. I really couldn't remember, I only remembered it a few moments afterwards. I couldn't hear anything then, I was fighting on autopilot."

Scary stuff.

That's the kind of damage that can take years off a fighter's career -- or life -- according to this former middleweight. And it's not uncommon these days, as Junior dos Santos has been known to go fulling Walking Dead during some of his heavyweight wars.

Enough to frighten Dana White.

Rockhold will likely move on to compete for the title later this year and with any luck, Machida will get some extended time off to rest his brain. It's important to note the Brazilian turns 37 next month and may not have much left in the tank as far as durability is concerned.

Happens to the best of them.