UFC president Dana White recently spoke about his relationship with former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, who declined a chance to replace an injured Phil Davis at UFC 133 in August.”There is just nobody for Machida to fight right now,” …
UFC president Dana White recently spoke about his relationship with former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, who declined a chance to replace an injured Phil Davis at UFC 133 in August.
“There is just nobody for Machida to fight right now,” said White. “Everybody thinks I hate Machida now because of that whole Anderson Silva money thing, but with the position Machida is in right now, is like what happened with Rashad. Rashad turned down a fight and said ‘I’m going to wait for Shogun,’ right? Wait for this guy who blew his knee out to get better, and then people start getting hurt left and right and now he’s out almost a year and a half.”
The light-heavyweight division is currently being dominated by it’s champion, Jon Jones, who defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135. Without a line of contenders outside of Evans, Machida has been forced to sit out and wait for the next up-and-coming challenger, which may come in the form of former NCAA Division I wrestler Phil Davis.
“I don’t hate Machida,” White continued. “Things happen, we butt heads all the time with different guys and stupid stuff is said by them or me and everything else, but I don’t hate anybody. I definitely don’t hate Machida. He’s a nice guy.”
Machida is currently coming off his victory over UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture in UFC 129. He knocked out the former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion with a highlight reel front kick. His return may come by the end of 2011 or in early 2012.
Tonight at UFC on Versus 6, Dominick Cruz defended his UFC bantamweight title against Demetrious Johnson. Cruz proved tonight that sometimes having awkward and weird movements can work to your advantage. Cruz is not the only fighter who has h…
Tonight at UFC on Versus 6, Dominick Cruz defended his UFC bantamweight title against Demetrious Johnson.
Cruz proved tonight that sometimes having awkward and weird movements can work to your advantage.
Cruz is not the only fighter who has had some questionable movements in MMA.
Here’s a look at some of the other fighters who may make you wonder what exactly they’re doing.
After a blockbuster week that saw UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones successfully defend his belt at UFC 135 against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, there were plenty of other news items that took center stage.UFC President Dana White briefly announce…
After a blockbuster week that saw UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones successfully defend his belt at UFC 135 against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, there were plenty of other news items that took center stage.
UFC President Dana White briefly announced a highly-anticipated showdown between light heavyweights Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida, only to pull back the news almost immediately.
Consensus No. 1-ranked female fighter Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will return to Strikeforce to defend her 145-pound title on Dec. 17.
UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre announced that he will be training with former challenger Dan Hardy in preparation for his UFC 137 title defense against Carlos Condit.
Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.
Tim Sylvia is fighting Andrei Arlovski under the Pro Elite banner this November 5th. Dave Herman vs. Mike Russow scrapped from UFC 136 card due to an injury for Herman. Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan.
Tim Sylvia is fighting Andrei Arlovski under the Pro Elite banner this November 5th.
Dave Herman vs. Mike Russow scrapped from UFC 136 card due to an injury for Herman. Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan II now promoted to main card.
UFC 140‘s planned match of Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis is definitely a no-go. Davis didn’t even know it was a prospect.
Georges St. Pierretraining with Dan Hardy for his upcoming UFC 137 main event with Carlos Condit.
UFC 139 headlined by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson with co-maint event, Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le. But you won’t find San Jose residents, Jon Fitch or Josh Koscheck on the card unless there is a “vs.” sign between their two names, according to Dana White.
In case you missed it, here is that picture of Michael Jackson after he passed away that was submitted in court yesterday in the case of his doctor Conrad Murray‘s wrongful death trial.
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, Light HeavyweightsThe UFC’s light heavyweight division has been so talented for so long that it’s been impossible in the last few years for anyone to stay on top for long. Rampage Jackson looked like a force whe…
The UFC‘s light heavyweight division has been so talented for so long that it’s been impossible in the last few years for anyone to stay on top for long. Rampage Jackson looked like a force when he took the belt from Chuck Liddell, but it wasn’t long before Forrest Griffin took the belt from Rampage. Rashad Evans then took the belt from Griffin, but Evans lost the belt in his first title defense — at what was supposed to be the dawn of the Lyoto Machida Era. Except that Machida promptly lost his belt to Shogun Rua.
Now we have Jon Jones at the top of the division, however, and I think the belt is going to stay in place for a long time. Jones has absolutely obliterated both Jackson and Rua, and now he’ll get another former champion in Evans — with, I believe, similar results.
So as we list the top light heavyweights in mixed martial arts, we’re looking at an extremely talented division. But a division with one unique talent that stands far above the rest.
1. Jon Jones (1): There was never a moment during Jones’ victory over Jackson at UFC 135 that I even thought Jones was in the slightest bit of trouble. Jackson is a great fighter who appeared to be in good shape and ready for a big fight, but he simply wasn’t on Jones’s level. I don’t think anyone is.
2. Rashad Evans (2): Evans is finally close to the title shot that he’s been waiting on for more than a year, but I don’t think he has much of a chance of getting his belt back. Against Jackson, Jones did a great job of using his long legs to effectively fight at a distance, and if anything Jones will have an even greater reach advantage over Evans. It’s hard to see anywhere that Evans has an advantage over Jones. That title fight will not go well for Evans.
3. Shogun Rua (3): Shogun has a very big fight ahead of him against Dan Henderson at UFC 139, and if he wins that he’ll have a strong case that he’s the No. 2 light heavyweight in MMA. But given how thoroughly Jones beat Rua, it’s almost impossible to see the UFC giving Rua another shot at the title.
4. Lyoto Machida (4): Of all the light heavyweights in the sport, Machida is probably the one whose unorthodox stand-up style would present the greatest threat to Jones. If Machida wins his next fight, he’d make a lot of sense as an opponent for Jones in 2012.
5. Rampage Jackson (5): There have been times in Jackson’s career when it was fair to question his motivation and preparation, but UFC 135 was not one of those times. Jackson was well prepared for the Jones fight, he’s just nowhere near as good as Jones.
6. Dan Henderson (6): Henderson has left his Strikeforce light heavyweight title behind and will return to the Octagon to face Rua. A victory over Rua would give Henderson an excellent claim that he deserves a title shot against Jones, although as much respect as I have for Henderson I have an extremely hard time envisioning any way Henderson wins that fight.
7. Forrest Griffin (7): Griffin fights nothing but a who’s who of the all-time greats in the sport: His last seven fights consist of two battles with Shogun sandwiched around bouts against Rampage, Evans, Anderson Silva, Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin. The biggest question for Griffin now is whether he wants to keep doing battle with the sport’s truly elite, or if now that he’s in his 30s and a husband and a father, he’d rather take a step down in quality of competition. Griffin will always be a fan favorite and a draw for the UFC, but he may no longer be prepared to fight in the upper echelon of the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
8. Rafael Cavalcante (10): Feijao looked very good in his victory over Yoel Romero Palacio on the September Strikeforce card. As long as he’s with Strikeforce, Feijao’s options for big fights are limited, but in the UFC there are any number of big fights for him at 205 pounds. MMA fans who just want to see the best fight the best should hope one of those big fights gets booked soon.
9. Phil Davis (8): The 27-year-old Davis was a great college wrestler who’s a lot of fun to watch, and he seems destined to take on Jones some day. The problem is that for as young and talented as Davis is, Jones is even younger and more talented.
10. Thiago Silva (9): We’re finally getting close to the end of Silva’s one-year suspension for taking performance-enhancing substances. I hope he’s stayed in shape and comes back hungry, because he’s a 28-year-old who’s a good enough striker that he can be a threat to anyone. He should be involved in some big light heavyweight fights in 2012.
Within an hour today UFC president Dana White announced and then promptly recanted the news that Lyoto Machida would be squaring off with Phil Davis at UFC 140 in Toronto in December. According to White, the announcement was premature since, unbeknownst to him, Davis is still recuperating from knee surgery to fix the injury that forced him out out of his scheduled UFC 133 bout with Rashad Evans.
Luckily for Dana and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, we have three viable replacements lined up for Machida and we won’t even charge our usual finder’s fee.
Agree or disagree with our line-up after the jump.
(“Get a clue, Rashad. It’s not happening.”)
Within an hour today UFC president Dana White announced and then promptly recanted the news that Lyoto Machida would be squaring off with Phil Davis at UFC 140 in Toronto in December. According to White, the announcement was premature since, unbeknownst to him, Davis is still recuperating from knee surgery to fix the injury that forced him out out of his scheduled UFC 133 bout with Rashad Evans.
Luckily for Dana and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, we have three viable replacements lined up for Machida and we won’t even charge our usual finder’s fee.
Agree or disagree with our line-up after the jump.
In spite of his loss to Muhammed Lawal, if Roger can take Lyoto down, we may have an interesting situation on our hands. Machida is a black belt, but Gracie is a different kind of black belt and we’ve never seen how “The Dragon” fares against a submission specialist, unless you count Sam Hoger, and we’re pretty sure nobody does.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMAHighlights11)
“Rampage” has a win over Machida that even he admits is suspect, so why not let the two of them settle the score? With how in shape he was and how focused he seemed for his fight with Jones last week, Jackson will be hungry to get back on track and Machida’s eight-month layoff since his win over Randy Couture at UFC 129 in April could be an advantage.
“King Mo” just brutalized Roger Gracie and would love the chance to take a “W” away from Team Black House since the last fighter from the camp he faced, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, took his belt and snapped his undefeated streak with a third-round TKO. After dominating the fight for the better part of the first two rounds, Lawal got caught by a well-timed straight right up the pipe and Cavalcante didn’t give him a chance to recover. Mo’ is a better version of Phil Davis and doesn’t get the respect he deserves for how well-rounded his arsenal has become thanks to his analytical approach to the game.
Outside possibilities:Gegard Mousasi and Ovince St. Preux
(Video courtesy of YouTube/JonnyLofgren)
Both fighters are slated to face each other in December at Strikeforce 37, but could be available if needed. Before you scoff at Mousasi being included in this list, remember that besides not knowing how to deal with Keith Jardine’s Saturday night at the Dairy Queen parking lot fighting style, his only real uninspired performance came against Lawal, but that was because Lawal’s performance and gameplan was that much better.
UFC president Dana White recently spoke about his relationship with former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, who declined a chance to replace an injured Phil Davis at UFC 133 in August.
The 