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Video: Randy Couture Talks Fight With Machida, Possibly Facing Shogun, Maynard’s Draw With Edgar and Sonnen’s Legal Woes

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMA30tv)
When the UFC announced a few weeks ago that Lyoto Machida will be facing Randy Couture at UFC 129 in Toronto on April 30, an intriguing hypothetical situation arose, prompting the obvious question: What happens if &quot…

(Video courtesy YouTube/MMA30tv)

When the UFC announced a few weeks ago that Lyoto Machida will be facing Randy Couture at UFC 129 in Toronto on April 30, an intriguing hypothetical situation arose, prompting the obvious question: What happens if "The Natural" beats "The Dragon?"

On paper, Machida, who was robbed of a decision over Quinton Rampage Jackson at UFC 123 in November after losing the light heavyweight belt to Mauricio Shogun Rua in May at UFC 113, is probably the UFC’s number two light heavyweight contender at the moment behind Rashad Evans, making the announcement that he will be facing an odds defying game plan master like Couture in his next bout somewhat of a head scratcher.

The cost vs. reward ratio is skewed in Randy’s favor.

If he beats the 47-year-old nearly-retired former champion, he beat a 47-year-old former champion, which shouldn’t raise his stock much in the UFC’s light heavyweight class. If he loses to Couture, he’ll have lost three fights in a row and will likely be relegated to fighting mid-card against Krzysztof Soszynski in his next bout, while Couture will likely get a crack at winning the UFC 205-pound belt for a record fourth time in his career by facing Shogun.

Although he says that he isn’t specifically fighting to win a title shot, Couture is cognizant that a win over Machida would put him in line to face Rua (the other fighter besides Lyoto that he named as being the two opponents he would take a break from acting to face) for the title.

In the interview above with MMA30’s Dave Farra, Couture talks about how he plans to bring the fight to Machida and also touches on some topics near and dear to him, including why his protegee Gray Maynard was somewhat sluggish in his UFC 125 fight with Frankie Edgar and his former Team Quest stablemate Chael Sonnen’s recent rash of bad decisions.

Watch The UFC’s ‘Special Announcement’ Live From Rio de Janeiro at 11 a.m. ET

(Nipmoua’s old poster design has become eerily prescient. Except for the ‘200’ thing, obviously. I mean, do the math bro.)
In what’s expected to be an official announcement of the UFC’s return to Brazil in 2011, UFC president Dana White and Chairman/…

(Nipmoua’s old poster design has become eerily prescient. Except for the ‘200’ thing, obviously. I mean, do the math bro.)

In what’s expected to be an official announcement of the UFC’s return to Brazil in 2011, UFC president Dana White and Chairman/CEO Lorenzo Fertitta will be making a special announcement at Rio De Janeiro’s City Hall today at 11 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. local time. White and Fertitta will be joined by UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, middleweight champion Anderson Silva, light-heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, featherweight champion Jose Aldo, #1 middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, and Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio. You can watch the announcement live in the video player after the jump.

Report: Shogun vs. Evans, Lil’ Nog vs. Ortiz Moved to March 19th in Newark

(Brazilian Vinny, Mauricio Rua, and Brazilian Steve-O celebrate their big moment. Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun)
According to a new report from Sportsnet, the UFC light-heavyweight title fight between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Rashad …

(Brazilian Vinny, Mauricio Rua, and Brazilian Steve-O celebrate their big moment. Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun)

According to a new report from Sportsnet, the UFC light-heavyweight title fight between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Rashad Evans is expected to headline a March 19th event at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey. Tito Ortiz’s last-last chance against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is also slated for the show. Both fights had been previously tied to a March return to Abu Dhabi, leading to speculation that the event might not happen at all. As UFC U.K. president Marshall Zelaznik said back in November:

"I know there’s been talk of March 19 potentially happening. While we’re looking at delivering a pay-per-view (event) around that time, nothing’s been defined in terms of whether Abu Dhabi gets it or someone else."

March 2011 is already a busy month for the UFC, with UFC on Versus 3 slated to take place on 3/3 and a possible UFC Fight Night event on 3/26. In March 2010, Newark hosted UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy, which drew a passionate East Coast fan contingent. Until New York gets its head out of its ass, this might be the closest thing to an annual NYC event that we’ll get.

Machida Isn’t Assuming Anything About Rampage Heading into Their UFC 123 Bout

(There’s an ad for a sports drink if I ever saw one.)
Lyoto Machida isn’t taking anything for granted in preparing for his upcoming bout with Quinton Jackson at UFC 123 November 20.
The former UFC light heavyweight champ says he’s preparing for every s…

(There’s an ad for a sports drink if I ever saw one.)

Lyoto Machida isn’t taking anything for granted in preparing for his upcoming bout with Quinton Jackson at UFC 123 November 20.

The former UFC light heavyweight champ says he’s preparing for every scenario that "Rampage" may present him with during the fight — even the unlikelihood that Jackson may demonstrate some newly developed kickboxing skills.

"Well, I always think for a MMA fight, despite the specialties of each fighter, you have to be prepared for anything, because we can never know what the guy is up to. A guy who doesn’t know how to kick may be kicking on the following fight, you can’t tell for sure. The need leads the frog to a jump. We have many examples of people who are good on areas that aren’t theirs specialties: Georges St. Pierre has improved a lot his Wrestling, people that didn’t kick are now kicking and so it goes… I don’t underestimate any fighter," Machida told Tatame.com. "I think that, just as I’m prepared for anything during the fight, so are they: the stand-up game, the takedowns and the ground game. Of course we have our game plan set, our strong point is Karate and the exchanges, but if we need to use the other skills, we will do the takedowns and the ground game that I train here with Valter Broca, who’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, graduated by De La Riva, who always help me on this area."

As far as Jackson’s gameplan, Machida doesn’t think Quinton will shy away from standing with him, despite his tough to defend against unorthodox karate striking prowess.

Wanderlei and Shogun Campaigning For Ninja in the UFC

(Video courtesy YouTube/WandFightTeam)For the past several months fellow Brazilians have been rallying for Murilo "Ninja" Rua to be added to the UFC’s 185-pound roster.
Wanderlei Silva posted a video blog on YouTube last week asking UFC presi…

(Video courtesy YouTube/WandFightTeam)

For the past several months fellow Brazilians have been rallying for Murilo "Ninja" Rua to be added to the UFC’s 185-pound roster.

Wanderlei Silva posted a video blog on YouTube last week asking UFC president, Dana White to sign the former PRIDE star to the organization.

Besides "The Axe Murderer," Ninja’s younger brother, UFC light heavyweight champion, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua as well as welterweight contender Paulo Thiago also appeared in the clip to express their support for Murilo, who is undefeated in his last four outings, being brought into the UFC’s middleweight mix.

Speaking with TATAME this week, Ninja says that the ultimate goal would be to join friends like Wand and Shogun in the UFC, but he isn’t banking on it happening without him proving that he deserves it.

“I see it from a positive perspective, but I’m fighting and doing my job. If one day I’ll fight for the UFC it’ll only be a consequence. I’ll wait and it’ll come," Rua explained. “[The UFC’s middleweight division] is a great division; there are great fighters, it’s really hard, but I’ll try to be on my best to go for the belt. That’s my dream, my goal, and I want to deserve it. On the right time, I’ll join the UFC’s cast."

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(Nick Thompson is stretchered to safety after getting smoked by Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku 14. Check out FIGHT! Magazine’s exclusive gallery of photos from the event right here.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogos…

(Nick Thompson is stretchered to safety after getting smoked by Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku 14. Check out FIGHT! Magazine‘s exclusive gallery of photos from the event right here.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– BJ Penn Hopes James Toney Does Well Against Randy Couture (MMA Convert)

– Facing your "Mirs": Where do Lashley and King Mo go from here? (Watch Kalib Run)

– 5 Things To Watch For At UFC 118 (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua’s Return Delayed Until Mid-2011 (Versus MMA Beat)

– Why Nick Diaz vs. ‘Mayhem’ Miller Is the Fight Strikeforce Needs Now (MMA Fighting)

– Exclusive Interview With Bellator Middleweight Tournament Winner Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko (LowKick)

– Outstanding Wrestlers and the Lessons Learned (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Kickboxing Legend Andy Hug, R.I.P. (MMA Scraps)

– This Rampage vs. Machida trailer will be the greatest thing you will see today, guaranteed (MiddleEasy)