The main event has been announced for UFC 140 in Toronto and the surprise challenger has caused some controversy in the mixed martial arts world.
Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title against Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, not widely-regarded number one contender Rashad Evans.
On the surface this matchup appears to be a bit out of sync, as Jones-Evans seemed primed and fans have been teased with that fight for some time now. However, Evans has shown that he is clearly injured and not in good enough form form to train and get prepared in time for the December 10th event.
Two and a half years have passed since Lyoto Machida’s spectacular knockout of Rashad Evans to take the title at the time, and performance, timing and circumstance has left him in a no man’s land with his place in the division.
I have always been intrigued with the style matchup that is Jones-Machida, and according to Sherdog.com, “The Dragon” is confident that he has the skill set to defeat Jones.
“It’s hard to say what the perfect style is to stop Jones.” Machida said. “I have a lot of trust in my skills against any fighter. I won’t change what people have seen, and I would rather show them in the Octagon rather than talk about it beforehand. Jones wasn’t my problem before the UFC booked the fight. I’ll spend a lot of time studying him and find the best way to stop him. I now he is versatile, but I have my own talents and I know what it takes to win.”
Machida does feel that he will be an underdog in the fight with the hotter than lava Jones, but Machida cares nothing about the odds.
“The fight will be decided in the Octagon. Let him be the favorite, he will enter with the label of being a prodigy, but I’ll be stronger because of that. Since I’m the underdog, I will enter the fight even more motivated to show that I deserve to be here and show why they offered me the chance.”
Machida is banking on experience being a key factor, adding “I’m a complete man now that I am 33-years old. I’m not a 22- or 23-year old kid anymore. It’s something subtle that people don’t see easily, but you feel the change, you acquire things you couldn’t even imagine.”
it is clear that Machida also thinks the longer it goes the better for him.
“I can get Jones to the fifth round,” he said “I believe in myself in what I am doing and in my teammates.”
Sounds like the mental part of training camp is already in full swing.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and (also a Correspondent for MMACanada.net)
Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma
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