Machida To Face Shogun Rua
The first defence of Lyoto Machida's light heavyweight championship will not be Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson as rumoured, but will be Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua. Dana White is set to make the official fight announcement later next week.
Machida, who hasn't lost a round since coming into the UFC, completely decimated Rashad Evans at UFC 98. Rua is coming off a knock out of the night against Chuck Liddell but hasn't performed in the UFC to the standard that he did in Pride and I believe that Machida will defend his title successfully.
I hate to sound like a mark, but I don't see anyone beating Machida right now. I believe that, for me at least, an absolute dream fight would be Anderson Silva.
Rampage on the other hand, will face Rashad Evens after the two have fulfilled their coaching duties on The Ultimate Fighter 10.
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Shogun and not Rampage? WOW. I don’t like this at all.
neither do I….
I think the UFC is looking to bring some stability back to the belt. I mean Machida beat Rashad who had no successful defenses. Who just beat Forrest who had no successful defenses. Who just beat Rampage with only one successful defense. Rua is no push over obviously, but it should be a win for Machida.
As much as I love Rampage, He’s not that different a fighter then Rashad, and won’t have the patience necessary to beat Machida. The more Rampage is on free TV, the more fans he will get and he’s a perfect coach for the Ultimate Fighter.
Spider v. Machida for either title is a huge match on paper….but it could also be one of the most boring 25 minutes in UFC history if they both stick to their game plans. Could be great, but Dana isn’t too high on Spider right now and seemingly wants the belt off him. So I don’t see the possibility of giving him a crack at another title, although that match would probably be @ light heavy anyway.
The Machida fight I would love to see would be with Randy Couture. I think Randy has the patience to solve the Machida puzzle. Putting him against the fence and making him hold his weight could finally gas Machida out over 5 rounds. Randy could go back down to light heavy for one fight, and would then be free to fight Fedor elsewhere.
Just my opinion.
So with the next TUF coaches being who they are, I guess that means we’re getting Rashad/Rampage? That will be a big money fight. Still, I think Rampage deserved this shot–he got robbed in his last title defense!
Rampage isn’t getting robbed of a title shot here. Rampage stated that he wanted to beat Evans for the title, but he hurt his jaw therefore Machida got the shot instead. Rampage is still the #1 contender for the title, but he wants to fight Rashad first. For anyone that doesn’t know, the whole rivalry between them started after Rampage beat Jardine. Afterward, Rampage and Rashad were in each others faces during the post fight interview with Joe Rogan.
Whilst I am suprised that Lyoto-Rampage isn’t happening, I’m thankful that they aren’t the coaches on TUF because I’m sick of titles being held up for the reality show, I don’t think that it’s necessary as I’d rather watch a series with two rival coaches before their grudge match e.g. Ortiz-Shamrock, Bisping-Hendo. I’m not keen on Rampage being a coach again, as he wasn’t that good on TUF 7 and that was the weakest series in my opinon, both entertainment and talent wise. I’m also worried about his frame of mind because he’s now passed on two title shots and I’m worried that he fears Machida. His last stint as coach didn’t do him any favours and whilst I still think that his fight with Forrest should have been a draw, he performed poorly after the long lay-off so I don’t see how doing this show again will benefit him. However, I’m looking forward to Rampage-Rashad and that should be an entertaining fight and that confrontation at UFC 96 was really funny. The winner will face the Lyoto-Shogun winner, in less Machida or Anderson lose their next fight, which I don’t see happening.
I would love to see Lyoto-Anderson, that is a dream fight and right now the only people that could beat Lyoto or Anderson are each other, unfortunately they are training partners and good friends so this fight won’t happen anytime soon. I wouldn’t be suprised if both of them retire as champions.
Shogun looked awful against Forrest and Coleman but was much improved against Liddell. His killer instinct seems to be back but his cardio and wrestling are both still questionable. I don’t think he has a hope at beating Lyoto but I’m looking forward to their fight, pity it won’t happen on the UK card.