(Whatever happened to working your way back up the ladder after a loss?)
Apparently Lyoto Machida is trying to jump to the front of the line of fighters in the queue to face Mauricio Rua when the UFC light heavyweight champ returns from rehabbing from knee surgery he underwent a few weeks ago.
According to an interview he did with MMAJunkie, Machida’s manager Ed Soares says that his charge’s first choice of fights would be a rubbermatch with Rua, but since according to UFC president Dana White, Shogun will likely be sidelined until March, they would instead like to battle for an interim belt with the man who is said to be next in line for a shot at the real belt.
"Honestly, we’d like to fight ‘Shogun,’" Machida’s manager, Ed Soares, today told MMAjunkie.com Radio. "Now it’s 1-1. It’s even. Let’s do this rubber match. Let’s figure this out. Granted, he won by decision and Lyoto won decisively, but anyone can get caught in this sport. He went in for the kill, and unfortunately, he got caught."
"Since ‘Shogun’ is out – they’re saying until March – personally, when there’s an injured champion, I would love to see maybe a Rashad-Lyoto match for the interim title. I think that would be something that would be cool, and the winner of that would get to fight ‘Shogun’ when he’s all healed up in the spring of next year."