UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title on September 21, when he faces Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC 165.
A glance at the rankings would lead one to believe that if Lyoto Machida defeats Phil Davis on August 3 at UFC 163, he will be the next fighter to compete for the 205 pound division’s crown. After all, Machida is sitting in the number one spot atop the rankings. Right?
Well, those rankings seem to mean very little to some. More specifically, they mean very little to current UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier. UFC Tonight recently reported that should Cormier defeat Roy Nelson at UFC 166, he will be looking to drop to light heavyweight and will request the UFC give him an immediate shot at the title.
Not surprisingly, that news did not sit well with Machida, a former UFC light heavyweight champion himself. Machida said so through an interpreter during a media call:
“I believe there are rankings, and they should be followed. There are a lot of guys in line in this weight class waiting in line to fight for a title. I’ve been waiting in line. There’s Glover Teixeira, there’s Phil Davis. So, there’s a lot of guys in the mix. If he’s (Cormier) going to move down to 205, he’s going to need to put a couple of fights in or at least have a significant win in a big fight. I don’t think it’s right for him to just come in and cut the line. I think he’s going to have to show that he deserves that title shot.”
Machida’s run as light heavyweight champion began when he knocked out Rashad Evans at UFC 98. The knockout was memorable enough that it had UFC commentator Joe Rogan exclaiming during the broadcast that the sport was entering the “Machida era.”
Rogan’s proclamation was a bit hasty. Machida would defend the title successfully once, defeating Mauricio Rua, via a somewhat controversial decision at UFC 104, before being knocked out by Rua in the rematch at UFC 113.
Machida did earn a shot at Jones and his title in December 2011. That fight ended with Jones choking Machida unconscious and dropping his body to the canvas like a bag of dirty laundry.
Since that loss, Machida has gone 2-0, defeating Ryan Bader and Dan Henderson in those contests. Machida will try and make it 3-0 against Davis, keeping his number one ranking in the process, and forcing the UFC to make a tough decision.
UFC 163 will take place on August 3 from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The fight card will be headlined by a main event between UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Chan-Sung Jung.
*Quotes obtained first hand by Bleacher Report.
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