Pahlavan
21-08-2013, 01:22
Vitor Belfort. Chael Sonnen. Nick Diaz. A rematch with Phil Davis.
Few fighters have found themselves with more options coming off a loss than former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.
"The Dragon," who lost a highly controversial decision to Davis at UFC 163, has been linked to as many potential dance partners as anyone save Sonnen himself in recent weeks.
But as Machida explained on Monday's edition The MMA Hour, a match with fellow Brazilian and fellow former light heavyweight champ Belfort is the match which interests him the most.
"I would like to fight with him," said Machida. "I would like to show my technique against his technique and have a great show in Brazil."
Of course, that's just one potential opponent. Let's go through the list:
Sonnen, whom Machida called out via Twitter on Saturday: "Last Saturday I saw the fight, Shogun against Sonnen, and I saw a great opportunity to fight Sonnen too," Machida said. "Sonnen is a great name and he's a big name, I think I can beat him. He's talked bad about me back in the day."
Diaz, a fight idea which has since been shot down: "Dana told me about Diaz. He's a great opponent too."
Davis, obviously, was a sore spot, given that most of the MMA world felt Machida won their fight: "I loss that fight to Phil Davis, but I'm not convinced on that fight," he said. "Because it wasn't fair for me. I'd like to do another fight.
"My last fight I was looking for Phil Davis inside the octagon," Machida continued. "But he run away all the time. He tries to take me down at thew end of the round. I was looking for the fight but he was just wrestling. He landed but he didn't hit me hard. Didn't hit me any time. The next time I look for the fight all the time. I want a next chance."
But it all comes back to a fight with Belfort, a fight which Machida seems to want more than his potential foe.
"Everybody has your own reason to accept the fight," Machida said. "He's a big name in Brazil and around the world. I think he's a great opponent for me this time. It doesn't matter for me this time, the reason he doesn't accept this fight."
Machida said he'd like to fight Belfort at middleweight. He also made it clear that at this point in his career, he'd be willing to take a tweener role at 185 and 205, similar to former middleweight champ Rich Franklin.
And who knows? With his friend and campmate Anderson Silva no longer the middleweight champ, perhaps a door could open to a potential run at current titleholder Chris Weidman.
"The future belongs to God," said Machida. "Anderson is not the champion anymore but he has a big challenge at the end of the year against Weidman again. I believe in Anderson, but each moment has it's special time. Nobody knows who can become champ again."
Few fighters have found themselves with more options coming off a loss than former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.
"The Dragon," who lost a highly controversial decision to Davis at UFC 163, has been linked to as many potential dance partners as anyone save Sonnen himself in recent weeks.
But as Machida explained on Monday's edition The MMA Hour, a match with fellow Brazilian and fellow former light heavyweight champ Belfort is the match which interests him the most.
"I would like to fight with him," said Machida. "I would like to show my technique against his technique and have a great show in Brazil."
Of course, that's just one potential opponent. Let's go through the list:
Sonnen, whom Machida called out via Twitter on Saturday: "Last Saturday I saw the fight, Shogun against Sonnen, and I saw a great opportunity to fight Sonnen too," Machida said. "Sonnen is a great name and he's a big name, I think I can beat him. He's talked bad about me back in the day."
Diaz, a fight idea which has since been shot down: "Dana told me about Diaz. He's a great opponent too."
Davis, obviously, was a sore spot, given that most of the MMA world felt Machida won their fight: "I loss that fight to Phil Davis, but I'm not convinced on that fight," he said. "Because it wasn't fair for me. I'd like to do another fight.
"My last fight I was looking for Phil Davis inside the octagon," Machida continued. "But he run away all the time. He tries to take me down at thew end of the round. I was looking for the fight but he was just wrestling. He landed but he didn't hit me hard. Didn't hit me any time. The next time I look for the fight all the time. I want a next chance."
But it all comes back to a fight with Belfort, a fight which Machida seems to want more than his potential foe.
"Everybody has your own reason to accept the fight," Machida said. "He's a big name in Brazil and around the world. I think he's a great opponent for me this time. It doesn't matter for me this time, the reason he doesn't accept this fight."
Machida said he'd like to fight Belfort at middleweight. He also made it clear that at this point in his career, he'd be willing to take a tweener role at 185 and 205, similar to former middleweight champ Rich Franklin.
And who knows? With his friend and campmate Anderson Silva no longer the middleweight champ, perhaps a door could open to a potential run at current titleholder Chris Weidman.
"The future belongs to God," said Machida. "Anderson is not the champion anymore but he has a big challenge at the end of the year against Weidman again. I believe in Anderson, but each moment has it's special time. Nobody knows who can become champ again."