It appears that Lyoto Machida is more than willing to accept a bout with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Machida, who recently scored a victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129, has been quite vocal and aggressive in his approach to recapture the light heavyweight crown since losing to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 113 last year.
“There’s nothing yet, but it’s a great chance for me,” Machida told TATAME.com, when asked if he had received a call from the UFC regarding a potential bout with Jones.
This news comes just days after UFC president Dana White announced Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as the new No. 1 contender to Jones’ title. But Jackson, who recently defeated Matt Hamill at UFC 131, revealed that he fractured his hand prior to the bout. White made it clear that if Jackson was unable to compete against Jones this fall, Machida would receive the opportunity to face the 23-year-old champion instead.
Machida said he didn’t want to make a big deal over the potential bout between him and Jones, but he said he would be ready if called upon.
“I’m ready. I’m already moving to another training part, and I’d be ready to fight in 12 weeks,” he said.
While the opportunity might be too early for the Brazilian, many pundits are intrigued at witnessing a potential bout between the two light heavyweights, as some feel Machida has the style to dethrone the undefeated champion.
However, Machida, who was undefeated at one point in his career, knows that no one is unbeatable in mixed martial arts.
“We know Jones is a great champion, he showed why (against Shogun), but everybody has strong and weak points,” he said.
“I haven’t studied Jones’ game yet because he was never ‘my problem’, but I already saw him fighting.”
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