Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (17-2) has earned another shot at UFC gold and will do so on December 10 in Canada when he meets Jon Jones in the main event.
The bout is expected to be made official by the promotion later this week at a press conference in Toronto, Ontario, the same city which is expected to host UFC 140 with the venue being the Air Canada Centre.
Machida spoke to Tatame.com recently about being offered the fight, something he accepted without hesitation, and offered his thoughts on Jones as an opponent, saying that “nobody is invincible.”
Many fans always said, and you once said yourself, you saw your game as a good match-up to Jon Jones’. What would you do against him?
It’s hard, he’s is much versatile and knows a lot of techniques, but we play a similar game. He kicks, I kick, he punches and goes to the ground, I can defend myself and take him down too. Stamina and game plan are things that could define this bout’s outcome. Nobody is invincible. We’re training for the best, looking for enlarging our body and mind and that’s what I’m gonna do.What lessons did you learn from his three bouts this year, submitting Bader, beating Shogun and dominating Rampage?
Of course we read his game, we know he always bring some news, but I want to bring him some news too. It’s hard to say. I study his game, but I’ve never seen him with a problem my problem even because so far he wasn’t my opponent. Now he’s my opponent, it’s set in stone. From this moment on the study will reinforced, and the dedication too. I used to look at his qualities, analyzed them, but I was always focused in my fights, which was a duel with Couture, Rampage. He’s a lot versatile, but I believe a lot in my work and my style. I was practically born training, since I was four years old.