When Dana White came a-knocking on Lyoto Machida’s door, Machida responded by slamming the door shut in his face.
White was in dire straits when he found out that rising prospect Phil Davis would be a no-show for the main event of UFC 133, after sustaining a knee injury.
With less than four weeks until the event, and with Rashad Evans without an opponent, he needed someone of note to fill the void, and fast.
In his hour of need, White turned to none other than Machida, the former light heavyweight champion.
Machida had just come off an emphatic victory against UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at UFC 129. Machida knocked out the veteran fighter via a jumping front kick, effectively sending him into retirement.
Even though it was at short notice, Machida was both willing and able to rise to the occasion. He had assembled his crew and hired a plane and was all set to depart the relaxation of the sandy beaches of Brazil for the gruelling preparation schedule that lay ahead of him stateside.
However, there was one stumbling block, Machida wanted more money—Anderson Silva kind of money. Some might say Machida was being rapacious in his demands; others might say he was deserved of the Silva type of money. Either way, win or lose, it was Machida’s game to play.
White is one of those guys who won’t be held to ransom, and furthermore, if Machida wanted Silva money White expected him to produce Silva-esque performances.
White declined his request. His next port of call would be to the villainous rapscallion Tito Ortiz. Ortiz gladly accepted, but not without assurances and some Silva-type money.
An excerpt of Indeep’s “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” must’ve crossed White’s mind: “There’s not a problem that Ortiz can’t fix, ’cause he can do it in the mix.”
Ortiz had saved the day, but more importantly he had gone up a notch in White’s estimation.
For Machida, well, he turned down an opportunity—not of a lifetime, but an opportunity, nonetheless.
It can’t be said that Machida was afraid of throwing down with Evans. He’d won the light heavyweight championship by knocking out Evans in devastating fashion at UFC 98.
Save for his presupposed rapacity and Silva money, Machida could’ve been right back in the mix, he most definitely would’ve have been the No. 1 contender to the crown if he had defeated Evans.
And right now he’d be waiting in the wings, ready to take on the winner of the Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson clash.
So where does that leave Machida? He was last pencilled in to fight Phil Davis at UFC 140, but that has been squashed.
Evans is the No. 1 contender; next up I presume would be Mauricio Rua. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. There might be rematches, injuries—these could all jeopardize Machida’s chances of vying for the belt.
And it’s not even a dead cert that Machida will be victorious in his next fight, whenever that maybe and whomever that might be against.
Then there’s the case of Dan Henderson. If he decides to jump ship and smooth out his differences with the UFC brass, he might just jump the queue ahead of Machida.
I won’t say that the future looks bleak for Machida, but it doesn’t look rosy either.
The road back to UFC Gold might be a long and treacherous one for Machida. He just might find himself in the UFC wilderness for the time being.
On a personal note: It is what it is. Sometimes you get what you’re given and sometimes you get what you ask for.
Like the character from Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, Machida asked for more, and rightly or wrongly, I think he’ll have to deal with the repercussions of that.
Because hell hath no fury like a Dana White scorned.
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