Machida "I want to fight for the belt by the end of this year"

"It was a very big win. I hope people start to recognize that I'm here to stay and I would like to fight for the belt by the end of this year."- Lyoto Machida

Machida Interview

I personally don't see it. I mean you have Jardine in head of him and if he does fight the title, he would get it before a more deserving Jardine. Unless he beats Jardine I don't see why he would get one before him. I think 09 will be his year. I'm just waiting to see him beat an elite LHW fighter like Chuck or Tito. As of now his biggest wins are people below his weight class. He hasn't beat an Elite LHW fighter when Jardine has beat 2(Forrest and Liddell)

He's definitely one of the most talented fighters, I just still think he needs to prove himself by beating somebody elite.

if he keeps winning theres no reason he wont get his title shot. i really hope he fights tito and beats him, im no fan of tito and i think machidas got a bright future.

as of right now, jardine is the next up for the title, but i think if machida does fight tito, and beats him, he will be ahead of jardine, but alot can happen from now till the title is back up for the contenders, i have a feeling that either wanderlei or chuck will beat keith jardine, which will put him a couple of steps back, and i have an odd feeling that chuck will be the next to get a title shot after griffin, i think maybe chuck beats jardine, or rashad evans or someone like that and is back up on top....but who knows alot can happen from now till the time comes, and guaranteed that each fighter that is amongst the top of the division will fight at least once, and it depends on the outcome of those fights wether they are still up there

It's basically a huge track race. Rampage and Griffin are fighting in the summer which means there is only one title defense left this year because that fight will be a war and I doubt they can clear the champ to go in October and then go again in December. So most likely the next title defense is November or December.

IMO the standings in the race...

Jardine leads with a win over Forrest and Chuck

Rashad is behind him with no loss and is beating everybody put in front of him

Machida and Thiago Silva tied in 3rd since both are undefeated but have yet to beat an elite fighter

Then Chuck since he's 1-2 in his last 3 and too me I seriously can't put him over two undefeated fighters with that recent record


Let the race begin to Late 08!!!!

does any one want to see jardine with the belt? he is not the best poster boy for the ufc and after his loss to houston and a decision of liddell all i see him being is the guy to beat to get in the top ten.

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Posted by NatedawgThaM

It's basically a huge track race. Rampage and Griffin are fighting in the summer which means there is only one title defense left this year because that fight will be a war and I doubt they can clear the champ to go in October and then go again in December. So most likely the next title defense is November or December.

IMO the standings in the race...

Jardine leads with a win over Forrest and Chuck

Rashad is behind him with no loss and is beating everybody put in front of him

Machida and Thiago Silva tied in 3rd since both are undefeated but have yet to beat an elite fighter

Then Chuck since he's 1-2 in his last 3 and too me I seriously can't put him over two undefeated fighters with that recent record


Let the race begin to Late 08!!!!

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Rashad shouldnt be getting a title shot before machida, if he does then its blatant favoritism... Rashads toughest fight to date has been tito a top 15 fighter who he tied luckily after losing 2 rounds to 1

Didnt Machida just embarrass sokoudjou. Do you think soku is not an elite fighter? he certainly is top ten, i dont understand your reasoning.

and on the topic of holding the belt by the end of the year, if he fought jardine,chuck,wandy, or shogun and won he would be the #1 contender hands down. Shogun is the only one in that group i can see beating him.

when is the ultimate fighter finale going to be? april maybe? thats definitely enough time to get a #1 contender match going. shit they could even do it when forrest and jackson fight.

It is possible to have the title by the end of the year. He just needs a top contender to accept a fight with him. Hopefully its jardine.

Jardine a title contender.....thats pretty funny.....even if he does get a shot he is still probably going to have to fight once or twice and win before he does considering that Griffen and Jackson arent fighting until summer time.....

Someone said Tito is an elite fighter, well, he's not. Well, not anymore anyway.


Ya, I love Machida and would wish he fights Rampage after Griffin. And yes Jardine did beat Forrest and Liddell but we seem to forget that he got smoked by Alexander. I am actually surprised Houston is fighting Irvin, I thought we would see a Jardine/Alexander rematch. Who is Jardine going to fight in the next three to four months?? We know Evans vs. Thiago is a possibility and Rampage vs Forrest, Machida vs. Ortiz(if he excepts the fight) so who fights Jardine?? Hmmm, rematch Liddell, Shogun, Soku?? Gosh that would be sweet.

Also I agree with one of the posters on how bad I don't want Jardine to have the belt...

It almost doesn't matter right now cause Rampage is on fire and seems pretty dominate.

Should be a good year for LHW and give us a clear picture, unless someone else rises from the rafters.......

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Posted by wrona666

Jardine a title contender.....thats pretty funny.....even if he does get a shot he is still probably going to have to fight once or twice and win before he does considering that Griffen and Jackson arent fighting until summer time.....

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you saying jardine is not a title contender?? he beat chuck and forrest, this guys imo should be fightin rampage not forrest

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Posted by loonytnt

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Posted by wrona666

Jardine a title contender.....thats pretty funny.....even if he does get a shot he is still probably going to have to fight once or twice and win before he does considering that Griffen and Jackson arent fighting until summer time.....

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you saying jardine is not a title contender?? he beat chuck and forrest, this guys imo should be fightin rampage not forrest

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as far as earning the title shot, jardine should have been ahead of forrest. Forrest beat hector ramirez and an injured mauricio rua and lost to jardine
Jardine beat Liddell and Forrest Griffin and lost to alexander.

Thats politics for you though

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Posted by Pookie

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Posted by NatedawgThaM

It's basically a huge track race. Rampage and Griffin are fighting in the summer which means there is only one title defense left this year because that fight will be a war and I doubt they can clear the champ to go in October and then go again in December. So most likely the next title defense is November or December.

IMO the standings in the race...

Jardine leads with a win over Forrest and Chuck

Rashad is behind him with no loss and is beating everybody put in front of him

Machida and Thiago Silva tied in 3rd since both are undefeated but have yet to beat an elite fighter

Then Chuck since he's 1-2 in his last 3 and too me I seriously can't put him over two undefeated fighters with that recent record


Let the race begin to Late 08!!!!

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Rashad shouldnt be getting a title shot before machida, if he does then its blatant favoritism... Rashads toughest fight to date has been tito a top 15 fighter who he tied luckily after losing 2 rounds to 1

Didnt Machida just embarrass sokoudjou. Do you think soku is not an elite fighter? he certainly is top ten, i dont understand your reasoning.

and on the topic of holding the belt by the end of the year, if he fought jardine,chuck,wandy, or shogun and won he would be the #1 contender hands down. Shogun is the only one in that group i can see beating him.

when is the ultimate fighter finale going to be? april maybe? thats definitely enough time to get a #1 contender match going. shit they could even do it when forrest and jackson fight.

It is possible to have the title by the end of the year. He just needs a top contender to accept a fight with him. Hopefully its jardine.

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You seriously had or have Soko in your top 10?

He had too lucky wins at the beginning of the year but before that he got smoked by one of Liddell's training partners. Soko is far from elite. IMO he's just lucky.

I know Rashad barely draw'd Tito Ortiz. But Tito Ortiz is ten times better then anybody Machida has faced. Machida's biggest wins are against people who are better in lower weight classes. He has yet to beat an elite fighter in the UFC. How is Tito not an elite fighter? His only loss recently is too Liddell and a lot of you have Liddell in your top 5's!!!!

It's just a matter of favoritism. Whether Machida is better then Rashad or Chuck. He probably is, but 9 out of 10 times Chuck is going to get the title shot ahead of him. Rashad too since there hyping him up to be a big poster boy. I don't believe he will get one until 09 because most likely Liddell will beat somebody easy and then take one last beating from Rampage at the end of this year.

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Posted by NatedawgThaM

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Posted by Pookie

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Posted by NatedawgThaM

It's basically a huge track race. Rampage and Griffin are fighting in the summer which means there is only one title defense left this year because that fight will be a war and I doubt they can clear the champ to go in October and then go again in December. So most likely the next title defense is November or December.

IMO the standings in the race...

Jardine leads with a win over Forrest and Chuck

Rashad is behind him with no loss and is beating everybody put in front of him

Machida and Thiago Silva tied in 3rd since both are undefeated but have yet to beat an elite fighter

Then Chuck since he's 1-2 in his last 3 and too me I seriously can't put him over two undefeated fighters with that recent record


Let the race begin to Late 08!!!!

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Rashad shouldnt be getting a title shot before machida, if he does then its blatant favoritism... Rashads toughest fight to date has been tito a top 15 fighter who he tied luckily after losing 2 rounds to 1

Didnt Machida just embarrass sokoudjou. Do you think soku is not an elite fighter? he certainly is top ten, i dont understand your reasoning.

and on the topic of holding the belt by the end of the year, if he fought jardine,chuck,wandy, or shogun and won he would be the #1 contender hands down. Shogun is the only one in that group i can see beating him.

when is the ultimate fighter finale going to be? april maybe? thats definitely enough time to get a #1 contender match going. shit they could even do it when forrest and jackson fight.

It is possible to have the title by the end of the year. He just needs a top contender to accept a fight with him. Hopefully its jardine.

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You seriously had or have Soko in your top 10?

He had too lucky wins at the beginning of the year but before that he got smoked by one of Liddell's training partners. Soko is far from elite. IMO he's just lucky.

I know Rashad barely draw'd Tito Ortiz. But Tito Ortiz is ten times better then anybody Machida has faced. Machida's biggest wins are against people who are better in lower weight classes. He has yet to beat an elite fighter in the UFC. How is Tito not an elite fighter? His only loss recently is too Liddell and a lot of you have Liddell in your top 5's!!!!

It's just a matter of favoritism. Whether Machida is better then Rashad or Chuck. He probably is, but 9 out of 10 times Chuck is going to get the title shot ahead of him. Rashad too since there hyping him up to be a big poster boy. I don't believe he will get one until 09 because most likely Liddell will beat somebody easy and then take one last beating from Rampage at the end of this year.

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its not like those fights in pride were one punch and they were over, he has an excellent sprawl to fend off wrestlers and exceptional judo to ward off any clinching, the only holes in his game is his sub defense and possibly a suspect chin. He was put in a match that the opponent had an incredible style advantage in his UFC debut. Taking him out of your top ten after that loss is ridiculous if you had him there before.

and that doo doo about tito being 10x better than anyone hes faced is such balogne, Nakamura IMO is better than tito, Sokoudjou i already covered, Rich franklin at 205 is still a tough match-up regardless of who you are.


...and werent you just on Houston Alexanders bandwagon hardcore until he was embarrased by thiago silva
and now you're on Silvas bandwagon? you cant seriously laugh at the logic behind having soko in the top ten when you have thiago there... who btw hasnt faced any top 20 competition yet.

I think he will have the belt by the end of the year, and this is coming from a person who has picked against him twice. I was like many and said he was boring, now I can see why he is so effective as a fighter and can be exciting to watch, as evidenced at UFC 79. He has all the tools to win the title and it is a great possibility that he will hold the title eventually. I also think he is a bad match up for anyone and I think he would beat Chuck. He is a very bad match up for Liddell, he is very elusive and Chuck's counter striking will more than likely be uneffective against him. This is also coming from a huge Liddell fan, he is and always will be one of my favorite fighters. Yet, I don't think he will be able to beat Machida. Hopefully, he proves me wrong though.

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Posted by wolfman

I think he will have the belt by the end of the year, and this is coming from a person who has picked against him twice. I was like many and said he was boring, now I can see why he is so effective as a fighter and can be exciting to watch, as evidenced at UFC 79. He has all the tools to win the title and it is a great possibility that he will hold the title eventually. I also think he is a bad match up for anyone and I think he would beat Chuck. He is a very bad match up for Liddell, he is very elusive and Chuck's counter striking will more than likely be uneffective against him. This is also coming from a huge Liddell fan, he is and always will be one of my favorite fighters. Yet, I don't think he will be able to beat Machida. Hopefully, he proves me wrong though.

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the only people who have the style to beat him IMO are shogun and rampage.
Shogun always comes full force when hes on his A-game, that could very well tire machida, and his strikes are as accurate and quick as machidas as well. The BJJ and takedowns are about even. The 2 are the most well rounded in the divsion and could make fight of the year IMO.

and rampage is just rampage lol

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Posted by Pookie

the only people who have the style to beat him IMO are shogun and rampage.
Shogun always comes full force when hes on his A-game, that could very well tire machida, and his strikes are as accurate and quick as machidas as well. The BJJ and takedowns are about even. The 2 are the most well rounded in the divsion and could make fight of the year IMO.

and rampage is just rampage lol

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I would love to see Machida fight Rampage or Shogun! Especially, Rampage vs. Machida that would be an interesting fight to say the least!

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Posted by wolfman

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Posted by Pookie

the only people who have the style to beat him IMO are shogun and rampage.
Shogun always comes full force when hes on his A-game, that could very well tire machida, and his strikes are as accurate and quick as machidas as well. The BJJ and takedowns are about even. The 2 are the most well rounded in the divsion and could make fight of the year IMO.

and rampage is just rampage lol

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I would love to see Machida fight Rampage or Shogun! Especially, Rampage vs. Machida that would be an interesting fight to say the least!

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I was thinking that Rampages explosive counter punching might end up having the bullying effect on machida, and hes strong enough to keep him on the bottom if it goes there. It very well could end up like the Arona fight. : D

The downside for page though is his defensive stand-up(you know that elbow thing he does) wont be as efficient against such a pinpoint puncher. but he could defintely eat leather for 5 rounds and them manage a ko somehow. Tis the beauty of the rampage

Machida is beast. His next fight should be against Jardine and the winner will get a shot at the title after Forrest.

I say have Machida fight jardine for the next number one contender. Thiago Silva still needs to rack up more wins to climb up the ladder and Rashad is barely beating his opponents and still needs to fight Tito again to clear up the issue of which one of them should be ranked ahead.

i disagree with jardine being next and forrest getting a shot, cus forrest wasnt a top 10 when jardine beat him and that jardine/chuck fight wasnt that great, i think machida should fight page instead of forrest

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Posted by Pookie

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Posted by NatedawgThaM

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Posted by Pookie

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Posted by NatedawgThaM

It's basically a huge track race. Rampage and Griffin are fighting in the summer which means there is only one title defense left this year because that fight will be a war and I doubt they can clear the champ to go in October and then go again in December. So most likely the next title defense is November or December.

IMO the standings in the race...

Jardine leads with a win over Forrest and Chuck

Rashad is behind him with no loss and is beating everybody put in front of him

Machida and Thiago Silva tied in 3rd since both are undefeated but have yet to beat an elite fighter

Then Chuck since he's 1-2 in his last 3 and too me I seriously can't put him over two undefeated fighters with that recent record


Let the race begin to Late 08!!!!

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Rashad shouldnt be getting a title shot before machida, if he does then its blatant favoritism... Rashads toughest fight to date has been tito a top 15 fighter who he tied luckily after losing 2 rounds to 1

Didnt Machida just embarrass sokoudjou. Do you think soku is not an elite fighter? he certainly is top ten, i dont understand your reasoning.

and on the topic of holding the belt by the end of the year, if he fought jardine,chuck,wandy, or shogun and won he would be the #1 contender hands down. Shogun is the only one in that group i can see beating him.

when is the ultimate fighter finale going to be? april maybe? thats definitely enough time to get a #1 contender match going. shit they could even do it when forrest and jackson fight.

It is possible to have the title by the end of the year. He just needs a top contender to accept a fight with him. Hopefully its jardine.

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You seriously had or have Soko in your top 10?

He had too lucky wins at the beginning of the year but before that he got smoked by one of Liddell's training partners. Soko is far from elite. IMO he's just lucky.

I know Rashad barely draw'd Tito Ortiz. But Tito Ortiz is ten times better then anybody Machida has faced. Machida's biggest wins are against people who are better in lower weight classes. He has yet to beat an elite fighter in the UFC. How is Tito not an elite fighter? His only loss recently is too Liddell and a lot of you have Liddell in your top 5's!!!!

It's just a matter of favoritism. Whether Machida is better then Rashad or Chuck. He probably is, but 9 out of 10 times Chuck is going to get the title shot ahead of him. Rashad too since there hyping him up to be a big poster boy. I don't believe he will get one until 09 because most likely Liddell will beat somebody easy and then take one last beating from Rampage at the end of this year.

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its not like those fights in pride were one punch and they were over, he has an excellent sprawl to fend off wrestlers and exceptional judo to ward off any clinching, the only holes in his game is his sub defense and possibly a suspect chin. He was put in a match that the opponent had an incredible style advantage in his UFC debut. Taking him out of your top ten after that loss is ridiculous if you had him there before.

and that doo doo about tito being 10x better than anyone hes faced is such balogne, Nakamura IMO is better than tito, Sokoudjou i already covered, Rich franklin at 205 is still a tough match-up regardless of who you are.


...and werent you just on Houston Alexanders bandwagon hardcore until he was embarrased by thiago silva
and now you're on Silvas bandwagon? you cant seriously laugh at the logic behind having soko in the top ten when you have thiago there... who btw hasnt faced any top 20 competition yet.

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If you can ever find a post where I put Houston in my top 5 or ever said he had anything but a puncher's chance against the elite in the division, then you would be correct and I'd give you props. I wasn't on the Houston bandwagon. I was a big fan with his huge KO's like any other MMA fan. I don't care about skill, I rather see Houston KO or be KO then a freaking Machida fight. I only put him in my bottom top 10 until he loss to Thiago. This was at a time post UFC 76 when the standings where messed up with those huge upsets and since Chuck was losing in a row I took him out and since Houston beat Jardine and everybody put Jardine back in. I had to put Houston there. I was a huge fan, but I always knew he would be nothing great.

What Thiago bandwagon? There's no such thing. Me and like a few, by few I mean a FEW, people are the only people who actually think like me, and think he could be a serious threat. UNlike a lot of you I've actually seen more fights then the Houston one. It's not like the 500 Machida fans who jumped on his nuts when he beat Nakamura. That's bandwagon jumping. It wasn't in my case. I was big on Thiago and Houston before the fight.

IMO Soko will never beat another big name. I hope they sick Houston on him so can destroy that chin because that's what would happen.

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Posted by NatedawgThaM

Me and like a few, by few I mean a FEW, people are the only people who actually think like me, and think he could be a serious threat.
.

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i think thiago could be champ, i think his only threats are page, lyoto, wandy and shogun

I absolutely believe that he has to beat Tito if indeed the fight happens. The LHW division is looking really stacked right now!

Also, the Griffin-Rampage fight isnt happening to sometime in the summer. Im not saying that whoever wins that fight doesnt fight maybe 2 more times this year but if I was a betting man...I would say that the champ would fight only one more time. And it probably wouldnt be against Machida!