Lyoto Machida – Photo via UFC.com
When UFC President Dana White named former light heavyweight title holder Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (18-3) as champion Jon Jones next opponent for UFC 152 on September 22nd, everyone thought it was pretty much a done deal.
The issue with that plan was that Machida and his camp wanted more time to prepare for any possible rematch versus Jones.
As we now know, Vitor Belfort will be the man to face Jones in Toronto, Canada leaving Machida’s status as the next in line up in the air.
Speaking to MMAWeekly.com Radio, Machida’s manager Ed Soares explained his fighters side of things, noting that the Brazilian is willing to go through another opponent to get back at the belt.
“I know that in Lyoto’s heart and in his mind, he believes he can still be the light heavyweight champion of the world. So if he’s going to take this chance, and he’s going to take this opportunity to fight against Jon Jones, he wants to make sure he puts his best foot forward and be 100-percent. Because if he loses, it’s not just like he’s losing another fight. He really has to sit back and reinvent himself and figure out what am I going to do.”
“…So I said, ‘We’d be willing to take the fight in October in Brazil because that would technically be five weeks of preparation, so that would be two or three weeks after with five weeks of preparation leading into the fight,” Soares revealed.
“So we were willing to do that, but unfortunately that didn’t work for them.”
“If he has to take another fight before the title fight, that’s okay too,” Soares said. “But one thing that we want to know is we want to make sure that he’s 100-percent prepared for this next title shot.”