Yesterday we passed along the word from MMA Junkie, who reported that “Rampage” Jackson has apparently verbally agreed to fight Lyoto Machida, November 20th. In addition to that report, which cited “sources close to the organization”, a recent ‘tweet’ from Rampage stating he’s ready to fight some dude whose name he can’t spell (another zinger from Jackson’s ‘am I illiterate?’ material), certainly seemed to jive with the story.
Well, here’s move evidence to toss onto the ‘looks like this is really happening’ pile; in a video interview posted on Sherdog today, which was apparently taken earlier this month, Machida talked about a variety of things including his recent KTFO loss to “Shogun” Rua and helping Anderson Silva prepare for Chael ‘Don’t Be Shy’ Sonnen. Machida conceded that although he would love to fight Rua for a third time, he understood that the UFC wasn’t likely to go in that direction for his next bout (also because Shogun is on the DL). When asked who would be his second choice- the former champion said this:
“I think Quinton Jackson would be the ideal guy for me; a guy who was champ and among the best. He is a great opponent; a very tough guy. I have a respect for him as does everyone else, but I’d like to test my technique against him.”…“I’m sure it would be a tough fight. He is a fighter who has been champion but I believe a lot in my work.”
Looks like the MMA gods are probably blessing us with another great tilt huh?