Dana White Eyeing Lyoto Machida vs. Vitor Belfort Middleweight Fight at UFC 167


(“Alright, enough horsing around. Your mother spent all day making this stew and I’ll be damned if we’re not going to eat it.”) 

Times have been tough for Lyoto Machida since the era bearing his name came to a screeching halt at UFC 113. The once seemingly invincible/untouchable Brazilian has dropped 4 of his past 7 fights, including a split decision loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163 that sucked as much as we all knew it would. The fact that “The Dragon” has been forced to drink the urine of complete strangers just to survive says more about his dire situation than anything else, really.

On the other side of the coin, fellow Brazilian and occasional training partner of Machida, Vitor Belfort, has seen a career resurgence as of late, knocking out Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold in back-to-back contests. And while it’s rare to see a fighter coming off a loss paired against one coming off a win, that’s exactly what Dana White has in mind. The Baldfather recently told Ariel Helwani, who in turn relayed the message on MMA Tonight, that he “loved” the idea of seeing a Machida vs. Belfort co-main event at UFC 167, which goes down in Vegas on November 16th. Here’s the catch: The fight would be held at middleweight.

Given Belfort’s recent refusal to fight anyone (looking at you, Tim) at 185 unless it’s for a title shot, this seems like wishful thinking on White’s part. There’s also the fact that Lyoto has never fought below 205, although he has stated in the past that he would be willing to make the cut for the right fight. On top of all that, Belfort has already called out Chael Sonnen and would stand next to no chance of getting licensed in Vegas with a TRT exemption. So yeah, expect Belfort to shoot this matchup down any. second. now.


(“Alright, enough horsing around. Your mother spent all day making this stew and I’ll be damned if we’re not going to eat it.”) 

Times have been tough for Lyoto Machida since the era bearing his name came to a screeching halt at UFC 113. The once seemingly invincible/untouchable Brazilian has dropped 4 of his past 7 fights, including a split decision loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163 that sucked as much as we all knew it would. The fact that “The Dragon” has been forced to drink the urine of complete strangers just to survive says more about his dire situation than anything else, really.

On the other side of the coin, fellow Brazilian and occasional training partner of Machida, Vitor Belfort, has seen a career resurgence as of late, knocking out Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold in back-to-back contests. And while it’s rare to see a fighter coming off a loss paired against one coming off a win, that’s exactly what Dana White has in mind. The Baldfather recently told Ariel Helwani, who in turn relayed the message on MMA Tonight, that he “loved” the idea of seeing a Machida vs. Belfort co-main event at UFC 167, which goes down in Vegas on November 16th. Here’s the catch: The fight would be held at middleweight.

Given Belfort’s recent refusal to fight anyone (looking at you, Tim) at 185 unless it’s for a title shot, this seems like wishful thinking on White’s part. There’s also the fact that Lyoto has never fought below 205, although he has stated in the past that he would be willing to make the cut for the right fight. On top of all that, Belfort has already called out Chael Sonnen and would stand next to no chance of getting licensed in Vegas with a TRT exemption. So yeah, expect Belfort to shoot this matchup down any. second. now.

Then again, Combate is reporting that Belfort vs. Machida could be in the works for the November 9th-scheduled “Fight Night 26″ card in Brazil, so who the f*ck really knows.

If there was ever a time for Machida to drop a weight class to save his career, it’s now. But what do you think, Potato Nation? Would you like to see Belfort vs. Machida at 185? 190? Franklinweight? Or should Belfort just continue pissing off Dana White for the sake of our amusement?

–J. Jones