Dana: Machida-Rampage winner not guaranteed a title shot !

With UFC 122 in the books, the focus now turns to Saturday's UFC 123 headliner between former champions Lyoto Machida and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

And though the light-heavyweight bout may seem a likely No. 1 contender's bout, UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com he's not ready to promise a title shot to the winner just yet.

"I don't know," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "The fight has to happen first (before I decide)."

Saturday's pay-per-view show takes place at the Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit and is bolstered by a B.J. Penn vs. Matt Hughes co-headliner. But the bout that could have the biggest and most immediate impact on its division is Machida (16-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) vs. Jackson (30-8 MMA, 5-2 UFC).

For the first time in his eight-year career, Machida enters the event off a defeat. Back in May, he lost his title to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, and he's anxious to get a shot at redemption. Jackson, meanwhile, had defeated Wanderlei Silva and Keith Jardine and then entered a No. 1 contender's bout with Rashad Evans at UFC 114. But Jackson suffered a decision loss in the May bout and now finds himself in a must-win situation to remain a contender.

"Shogun," meanwhile, has been on the shelf with a knee injury since winning the belt, and Evans patiently has waited for his return. That title fight now is expected to take place in March at UFC 128, likely in the United Arab Emirates, with Rua's recovery progressing as scheduled.

"He's had these knee problems before, and he got his knee done in Brazil, and then never did the therapy he was supposed to do," White said of Rua. "(He) always tried to come back too soon. The guy who [treated] his knee this time is the best. He might even be the best in the world, and 'Shogun's' done all the right things. (He) did the right rehab, taken time off, (and) didn't come back training too soon. So everything's on schedule, and he's looking good."

But with a highly anticipated Ryan Bader vs. Jon Jones light-heavyweight bout scheduled for UFC 126 (the same Super Bowl weekend card that also includes former champs Rich Franklin vs Forrest Griffin), White isn't sure who may fight the Rua-Evans winner.

But he knows the division will be one of the most competitive in 2011.

"The 205-pound division is so stacked with so many good fights," he said. "I'm waiting for this logjam to free up. [Rua's] knee is clogging this whole thing up. So once his knee is healed up, we're going to be putting on some sick 205-pound fights next year."

Best news so far this week! And here's why, lets look at the the last few fights that had gauranteed title shots.

Nate-Okami
Shields-Kampmann
Kos-Daley
Rashad-Rampage
Maynard-Kenflo
Sonnen-Nate

Notice the pattern? The majority of these fights sucked to high heaven! If you guarantee a title fight there is no onus on the fighter to impress, and no added pressure to get the W, as thats all thats needed to get the job done in there fight.

Also considering both are coming from a loss, i would like to see them get at least 2 big wins before getting a title shot. The winner should fight Jones-Bader winner IMO, which i what will happen i think.

Machida should get his rematch if he wins. He shouldn't have to fight anyone.

What Dana means by "i haven't decided yet" is that "Joe Silva and the Fertittas haven't decided yet, we want to see what happens with Shogun vs Evans. If Evans wins we're keeping the first defence for Evans open so we can give Shogun another undeserved title shot".


Suggesting that the winner fight the winner of Jones-Bader is daft. First off neither Jones nor Bader has even come close to earning a shot at the title and need more than 2 more wins. Secondly, why limit the options for title fights by having Machida school Jones or Bader and then have both of them having to rebuild themselves.

Thats fair enough.

I think what Dana means is that if Rampage wins he isnt getting a title shot. IMO if Machida wins he has beat..

1. Shogun (well on paper at least)
2. Evans
3. Rampage
4. T.Silva
5. Soko
6. Tito

in his last few fights, cant imagine why Bones or Bader would get a fight over him. They really dont have the same wins yet. Id like the winner of that to get Forrest Griffin or the looser of Evans/Shogun maby?

could it not be the fact that rampage isnt active enough to get a title shot, and dana is keeping this open if machida wins he gets a shot if rampage wins he has to fight again.

If Machida wins and Shogun win, im positive they wont do Machida-Shogun 3. And i dont think he would deserve a title shot beating a guy coming back from a loss.

If Evans wins then different story, Machida should get a title shot as he has a clear dominant win over the champ.

could it not be the fact that rampage isnt active enough to get a title shot, and dana is keeping this open if machida wins he gets a shot if rampage wins he has to fight again.

I dont think thats true, if Rampage wins then he would be a far more appealing fighter to have fight for a title, more so than Machida anyway. UFC would welcome Rampage-Shogun with open arms if that were the case.

If they were planning to give a title shot to the winner then they would have said so like they usually do, to help build up the importance of the fight. And its clear that the only other big fight at 205 to produce a contender is Bones-Bader so thats the way it seems to be shaping up.

No gauranteed title shot FTW

why limit the options for title fights by having Machida school Jones or Bader and then have both of them having to rebuild themselves.

The fact that they matched 2 top rising stars against each other shows that there planning something big for the winner. If they wanted to create an easy path for them to the title, then they would have kept them apart ala Cain and JDS, and pushed them at a different route to the title.


It makes no sense whatsoever to book Bones-Bader then have the winner fight Forrest Griffin or someone like that. They sacrifice a rising star for that....? Makes no sense.

Big plans ahead for the winner of Jones-Bader, atleast a no.1 contender match methinks.

Brown Pride wrote:If Machida wins and Shogun win, im positive they wont do Machida-Shogun 3. And i dont think he would deserve a title shot beating a guy coming back from a loss.

If Evans wins then different story, Machida should get a title shot as he has a clear dominant win over the champ.

could it not be the fact that rampage isnt active enough to get a title shot, and dana is keeping this open if machida wins he gets a shot if rampage wins he has to fight again.

I dont think thats true, if Rampage wins then he would be a far more appealing fighter to have fight for a title, more so than Machida anyway. UFC would welcome Rampage-Shogun with open arms if that were the case.

If they were planning to give a title shot to the winner then they would have said so like they usually do, to help build up the importance of the fight. And its clear that the only other big fight at 205 to produce a contender is Bones-Bader so thats the way it seems to be shaping up.

No gauranteed title shot FTW

personally i hope rampage wins the machida fight, not sure if rampage/evans 2 would be any different from the first though.

Brown Pride wrote:

why limit the options for title fights by having Machida school Jones or Bader and then have both of them having to rebuild themselves.

The fact that they matched 2 top rising stars against each other shows that there planning something big for the winner. If they wanted to create an easy path for them to the title, then they would have kept them apart ala Cain and JDS, and pushed them at a different route to the title.


It makes no sense whatsoever to book Bones-Bader then have the winner fight Forrest Griffin or someone like that. They sacrifice a rising star for that....? Makes no sense.

Big plans ahead for the winner of Jones-Bader, atleast a no.1 contender match methinks.

They have 5 potential contenders for the title. Evans gets first shot. Leaving 4 potential contenders.

Machida beats Rampage, Bader beats Bones(or vice versa).

That leaves 2 potential contenders.

Machida beats Bader/Bones

Leaves only 1 potential contender and when Machida beats Evans/Shogun there is nobody left for him to fight.

It makes NO sense to have Bader/Bones fight Machida after he schools Rampage.

I hear what your saying, but i find it very unlikely that after next weekend the winner, will wait for a title shot.

Shogun-Rashad looks like its happening in March at the latest, some rumours say early summer. Nothing been confirmed yet though.

By the time there ready to defend again probably late next year provided no injuries of course, then it will be too long a wait especially considering no title shot promised yet for this weekend.


Machida does not look like he will get a shot if he wins on saturday, and the fact that they suprisingly matched Bader-Jones means theve got something planned for the winner.

As it would have made much more sense to have Jones-Forrest and Bader-Franklin.


We'll see how it goes....

Many of Quinton Jackson’s best wins took place in the Pride Fighting Championships.

The Japan-based organization, which held its last event in April 2007, also promoted some of his toughest losses. Still, when “Rampage” fights Lyoto Machida on Nov. 20 in the UFC 123 main event, he wants to fight like he did in Pride.

“This fight right here has nothing to do with money,” Jackson said during a recent interview on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “It’s Time” show with Bruce Buffer. “This fight right here is all about honor and respect. Since I’ve been in the UFC, I have been all about money because quite honestly, I’ve made more money in the UFC than I ever did in other shows. It’s really easy to get beside yourself and be all about the money, all about the money. But I remember back in my Pride days, I used to just go and fight for honor. … I want to go back to my old Pride days when I used to fight to put on a show.”

Jackson has had plenty of success in the Octagon too. In his second UFC bout, he stopped Chuck Liddell to win the UFC light heavyweight title. He also defended that belt against Dan Henderson and later knocked out Wanderlei Silva, who had beaten him twice in Pride.

His two UFC losses came to Forrest Griffin and, most recently, Rashad Evans. The Evans defeat was a bitter one that Jackson blames at least partially on taking an acting role in “The A-Team.”

“I’ve noticed that I can’t compete at both -- I can’t do movies, like five-, six-month long movies and compete at the top of the UFC,” Jackson said. “I proved to myself that I can’t do both at the same time. I think that was one of the main reasons that I lost my last fight.”

For now Jackson is choosing to focus on fighting over acting.

“I’m coming off a loss, and I’m really disappointed in my last performance and my last fight, but I know why I lost my last fight,” he said. “This time, I’m just going to go out there and give it my 100 percent, give it my best. If I win this time, I’m going to be really proud of myself. If I don’t pull it off this time, I’m not going to be as disappointed in myself as I was the last time. Last time I couldn’t give it my all because I had so many obstacles to go through.”

Jackson has tried to eliminate those obstacles this time around. Of course one major barrier to victory remains: Machida himself. Also a former UFC light heavyweight champion, Machida will be trying to bounce back from a May title loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. His patient, precision-punching counter game could give Rampage trouble.

“Much respect to him as a person,” Jackson said. “As a fighter, I really don’t like his fighting style. If anybody knows about me, as soon as I get in the Octagon, I come to fight. I really don’t like people who fight in [Machida’s] manner. How are you going to fight somebody from a distance? That is one of the things I’ve been working on a lot: not fighting his fight. I’m going to fight my fight. I don’t care what Machida does or what he thinks he’s going to do. It’s all about what I’m going to do.”

nice one.

i like it when fighters try to fight their own fight and not try worry too much about the oponents plan...it impairs their own fight.

Rampage can talk all he wants. Until he leaves that shit camp he's going to be a plodding stand-up fighter with no gas tank who just looks to land one big shot.

Page needs to go away, strip himself down and become the brawling powerbomb machine that he was in Pride.

If Machida wins, he of course deserves a title shot and he will get one.

Doubt he'll get the shot if he beats Rampage.


But anyway why do you still have the Bisping Avatar?? Its just for a month i thought

My month is up this weekend. yours doesn't end til the following week.

Machida holds wins over Evans, Shogun and after Saturday, Rampage. The only man to hold wins over the other 3 of the top 4 LHW's in the world. He will most certainly get a title shot. And rightfully so. He should have gotten an immediate rematch as he was the champion. Shogun, the challenger, got an undeserved one(given him two undeserved title shots), Machida deserves a shot now and will deserve it even more after he easily beats Rampage.

UFC 120 was on the 16th of October, your month is up.....

I assumed it would be until the corresponding Saturday of the next month. that being this saturday coming.