Quinton Jackson to determine Lyoto Machida's championship fate

Count Lyoto Machida among the many who will watch closely the UFC 96 main event between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Keith Jardine.

After all, Machida's potential title shot rests solely on how Jackson fares at the March 7 pay-per-view event in Columbus, Ohio.

Following Machida's stunning first-round TKO of previously undefeated Thiago Silva at Saturday's UFC 94 event, UFC President Dana White said the Jackson vs. Jardine fight will determine who gets the next light-heavyweight title shot.

If Jackson wins, he get an immediate chance to reclaim his belt, which he lost to Forrest Griffin in 2008. If Jardine wins, though, Machida will get the first shot at recently crowned champion Rashad Evans' belt. Evans won the belt with a third-round TKO of Griffin at UFC 92. (Jackson knocked out Wanderlei Silva at the same event to climb back into the title picture.)

"We don't have [Machida] scheduled to fight Rashad next," White said in the post-UFC 94 press conference. "But he's in the mix. He'll probably have a title shot before the end of the year."

Machida, long dogged for his propensity to take fights to decision, scored his most meaningful knockout in UFC 94's co-main event. Not only did the TKO prove his ability to finish fights (against a quality opponent), but he also picked up a $65,000 Fight of the Night bonus in the process.


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that KO was phenominal, I think rashad is in trouble

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Posted by Jesse_Canadian_MMA

that KO was phenominal, I think rashad is in trouble

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All of the LHWs are in trouble. Whoever faces Lyoto will be beaten.

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Posted by MMAcca

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Posted by Jesse_Canadian_MMA

that KO was phenominal, I think rashad is in trouble

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All of the LHWs are in trouble. Whoever faces Lyoto will be beaten.

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even shogun

This is gay! How long does Rashad have to sit and wait?

Nobody derserves a shot more than Machida, even over Rampage. Rampage fights in March. Rashad should be fighting in May. Which makes sense for him to fight Machida, otherwise Rampage on fights with two months training.

I just think this is dumb, Machida should of gotten a title shot a while ago, even before Griffin did...He has been getting screwed....

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Posted by cmb19932

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Posted by MMAcca

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Posted by Jesse_Canadian_MMA

that KO was phenominal, I think rashad is in trouble

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All of the LHWs are in trouble. Whoever faces Lyoto will be beaten.

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even shogun

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That's funny, I agree, right now shogun wouldn't stand a chance vs Machida after watching him against Coleman. If he doesn't prepare better Chuck's going to knock him on his ass....

Seeing as I'm a Rampage fan and I think he deserved the title shot after destroying Wanderlei. I'm pretty happy. I think he has to win the Jardine fight in convincing fashion though. If it's some sort of decision I think Dana might give it to Machida.

Machida and Fitch don't get their just deserves, its ridiculous.

At this point, Machida really has nothing left to prove. He's 6 for 6 and hasn't lost a single round. Most of the other top 205's are coming off losses or haven't performed well. I suppose if Luiz Cane wins, or the winner of Chuck Liddell and Shogun Rua could be the next matchup--but at this point Machida is much further up the ladder.

Quinton isn't even fighting until March, so he probably wouldn't be ready until June. That would be 6 months between fghts for Rashad. I can only assume the UFC is trying to hold onto this fight for UFC 100. Call me impatient, but I want to see a champ that defends the title more than twice a year.

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Posted by Wolfenstein

At this point, Machida really has nothing left to prove. He's 6 for 6 and hasn't lost a single round. Most of the other top 205's are coming off losses or haven't performed well. I suppose if Luiz Cane wins, or the winner of Chuck Liddell and Shogun Rua could be the next matchup--but at this point Machida is much further up the ladder.

Quinton isn't even fighting until March, so he probably wouldn't be ready until June. That would be 6 months between fghts for Rashad. I can only assume the UFC is trying to hold onto this fight for UFC 100. Call me impatient, but I want to see a champ that defends the title more than twice a year.

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You must of missed my post.

I said the same exact thing so I agree with you 100%

so this would be another zero has to go fight for machita if he fights Rashad the way Forrest was working Rashad in the first fight would kind of be the same way Machita would fight him that would be a great fight

Not fair to Machida
Brock and Forrest get chances just by claiming they want to fight the best
Machida has fought and beat the best
3 former/current ufc belt holders
What more does Machida have to do
They'll probably give him Forrest just to prove himself one more time

If i was a machida fan I would be quite frustrated. Machida has gone like 3 fights where they said "win this and you get a title shot" And they keep giving him the shaft. It would be very frustrating. I say still let jackson get the shot if he wins but give machida it first. then no matter who the victor between rashad and machida, they will fight jackson next.

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Posted by haggiswashere

If i was a machida fan I would be quite frustrated. Machida has gone like 3 fights where they said "win this and you get a title shot" And they keep giving him the shaft. It would be very frustrating. I say still let jackson get the shot if he wins but give machida it first. then no matter who the victor between rashad and machida, they will fight jackson next.

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That makes the most sense to me. Rampage has only beaten Wanderli since losing, I don't know why he's even being considered above Machida. Evans shouldn't have to wait so long to get paid either.

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Posted by cmb19932

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Posted by MMAcca

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Posted by Jesse_Canadian_MMA

that KO was phenominal, I think rashad is in trouble

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All of the LHWs are in trouble. Whoever faces Lyoto will be beaten.

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even shogun

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shogun has nothing on machida, silch, zip, nada, zeeeero

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Posted by Ulfhethnar6

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Posted by haggiswashere

If i was a machida fan I would be quite frustrated. Machida has gone like 3 fights where they said "win this and you get a title shot" And they keep giving him the shaft. It would be very frustrating. I say still let jackson get the shot if he wins but give machida it first. then no matter who the victor between rashad and machida, they will fight jackson next.

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That makes the most sense to me. Rampage has only beaten Wanderli since losing, I don't know why he's even being considered above Machida. Evans shouldn't have to wait so long to get paid either.

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Because of the way that he lost the belt. He lost a very close decision that a lot of people believe he won, then he came back to brutally KO a top ten fighter. Usually in that situation a former champ should get his title shot. I support Machida but he still hasn't faced any of the guys at the top of the division.

That being said, with the way they worked this whole situation out (poorly) I think that Machida should get his title shot now, only because Rampage is fighting Jardine when he should have just gotten his shot. That way Rampage gets the shot he has earned in a lot of people's opinion and Machida wouldn't have to wait so long after this fight. Now everyone is sitting around waiting for one fight to happen.

When you break it down it's clear that Rampage and Machida are the only guys who should be considered for a title shot right now, and given the way Rampage lost the belt and the level of competition he has faced, I think Rampage deserved his shot first. Now that he's tied up it should be given to Lyoto. The UFC's mistake was not scaling Lyoto's competition up after a couple of wins. He's continually being matched up with guys who are just outside of the top ten, or just barely at the bottom of it. He should have been given a fight against one of the top5 guys in the division instead of Silva.


Also, to whoever said forrest and brock got title shots just because they asked: That's not even close to true. They both beat top contenders and they were both fortunate enough to fall into a situation where there were no better suited contenders. Mir and Nog were scheduled to fight when couture came back and Brock had just beaten a top contender in Herring, he was the best choice to fight Randy. Forrest also beat shogun who was considered to be a top3 LHW at the time if not #1 by most. He was also lucky enough to fall into a situation where most other contenders had taken a major loss recently. Both guys got their shots by getting big wins and getting a little bit of lucky timing, both guys were valid choices for their title shots.

this is what i want to see:
Rashad Evans Vs Lyoto Machida
winner fights Rampage if he beats Jardine, very simple

i think machida is getting the okami snub for a title shot

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Posted by Aether

That being said, with the way they worked this whole situation out (poorly) I think that Machida should get his title shot now, only because Rampage is fighting Jardine when he should have just gotten his shot. That way Rampage gets the shot he has earned in a lot of people's opinion and Machida wouldn't have to wait so long after this fight. Now everyone is sitting around waiting for one fight to happen.

When you break it down it's clear that Rampage and Machida are the only guys who should be considered for a title shot right now, and given the way Rampage lost the belt and the level of competition he has faced, I think Rampage deserved his shot first. Now that he's tied up it should be given to Lyoto. The UFC's mistake was not scaling Lyoto's competition up after a couple of wins. He's continually being matched up with guys who are just outside of the top ten, or just barely at the bottom of it. He should have been given a fight against one of the top5 guys in the division instead of Silva.

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I think the UFC has worked this out beautifully. Or, rather, they have a lot of open endings they can exploit to finally solve the milieu of the 205 division, packed full of big-name guys, three former champions, tons of solid and recognizable fighters with mixed records over the course of the last year, and young talent making statements seemingly monthly (Cane, Jones, etc.).

Assuming Evans's first title defense will be at UFC 100 on July 11th, the UFC has obviously prepared Machida (or Silva, should he have won the fight Saturday) as the backup plan in case Jackson implodes against Jardine. Assuming Jackson pulls off the victory, Machida needs another fight so that people don't casually forget who he is as the bandwagon hype transfers to another fighter as it always does at 205, and I can see him finally receiving a top-tier main-event fight against someone like a Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, or Mauricio Rua - one that may help cement his status as perennial contender.

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Posted by D0wnUnd6e6r

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Posted by cmb19932

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Posted by MMAcca

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Posted by Jesse_Canadian_MMA

that KO was phenominal, I think rashad is in trouble

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All of the LHWs are in trouble. Whoever faces Lyoto will be beaten.

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even shogun

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shogun has nothing on machida, silch, zip, nada, zeeeero

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If we see the the Shogun of old come back in the Liddell fight then I would give Shogun a legit shot at getting the belt and Lyoto vs Shogun could be a great fight.

I understand all of that, I'm just saying it could have been done faster. Rampage and Rashad could be preparing for a fight right now, Machida could be fighting someone in the top 5 like griffin or jardine and then we have ultimately the same situation except we'd be seeing belts defended more frequently.

I just think they advanced Machida too slowly and gave Rashad too long of a break. Like someone else said, I think most of us want to see a champ defending more than 2 times a year.

Since Rampage beat Wand I want Rampage regain the title and fight Machida.

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Posted by Aether

I understand all of that, I'm just saying it could have been done faster. Rampage and Rashad could be preparing for a fight right now, Machida could be fighting someone in the top 5 like griffin or jardine and then we have ultimately the same situation except we'd be seeing belts defended more frequently.

I just think they advanced Machida too slowly and gave Rashad too long of a break. Like someone else said, I think most of us want to see a champ defending more than 2 times a year.

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Ah, I think the mystique of "100" is the problem. Jackson vs. Jardine would never have happened, and Evans would probably be defending instead if that particular number wasn't sitting in the middle of the year. I almost hope 100 is five title defenses, just to reset the timetable.

The UFC has this problem with almost every division - they're trying to find the right time and in the process backlogging divisions with contenders. (A year between title defenses for Penn - at least.)

Champions should fight ever 5 months(unless hurt) IMO. Evans waiting till July is 2 months longer than when he should fight, especially when he could probably fight right now if you asked him too. If he doesn't fight till July than he maybe will fight in December. Maybe. If Rashad only fights once this year that would be the dumbest thing.

He should fight Machida in May, and then have a Machida(Champion) vs. Rampage in October.

Leave UFC 100 for GSP vs Alves and BJ vs KenFlo....OR Brock vs Fedor :)

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Posted by prozacnation1978

i think machida is getting the okami snub for a title shot

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The Okami snub
Haha i like it
It's the only way to explain it.