Damnit, I don't want to see Sonnen vs Machida :(

[JenksIX]

Lyoto Machida has revealed he is open to a light-heavyweight clash with Chael Sonnen later this year, and king-of-the-trash-talk Sonnen is already attempting to get a reaction from the Brazilian.

With many of the top contenders in the light-heavyweight division already signed to fights, a high-profile clash with Sonnen, just back from suspension, is mooted for UFC 136. That card is set to take place in Houston on October 8, and could feature the next featherweight title defence of Jose Aldo against Kenny Florian.

Sonnen has already previously stated that he could beat any of the 205lb contenders, recently mocking them for failing to call out Jon Jones, of whom Sonnen says they are scared.

His latest effort on Twitter has seen the American mock Machida's Karate background, saying: "Of course your sport should be taken seriously. Everybody would like to be able to work out in their bathrobe."

He went on to tweet: "Lyoto, don't feel bad that you don't have the belt. You still have that little cotton one my nephew has."

And there was also time to mock Machida's link to actor Steven Segal, who was credited with helping The Dragon devise the kick that knocked out Randy Couture. "I don't seek training advice from actors for the same reason I don't seek health advice from strippers," commented Sonnen.

Machida is yet to rise to Sonnen's bait, but he did admit there is the possibility of a war in the near future.

"All of the potential opponents are set to fight, and I think I'll just have to wait," Machida told Tatame. "Rampage Jackson will fight Jon Jones, [Rich] Franklin fights Minotoro [Nogueira], Phil Davis vs Rashad Evans, so I'll have to wait for the definition of these fights.

"I think [the Sonnen fight] is great, I'm excited to do that. He's coming back now, wants to fight, and I really think it's a good fight for me. If Sonnen really wants this fight, I'll sign it immediately, no problem at all."

I knew this fight was gonna happen. It's not set in stone yet but it's pretty much a go from what I understand. Sonnen made some comments after UFC 132 about Machida among other things and when you look at all the 185/205 lbers, Sonnen vs Machida just makes sense.

Chael Sonnen is a big money fighter now. You don't just throw him in against anyone because if he dislikes a guy, he's going to make the fight main event worthy and it's going to draw as long as the opponents has some type of name recognition.

I'm a fan of both Chael and Machida, so I don't like this fight, but I'll watch nonetheless. I still think Machida is capable of defeating Jon Jones and I would of liked to have seen that fight before this, but I guess that's up to Rampage now. People shouldn't underestimate Machida. I'd give him the edge in this fight, but I think Chael is capable enough to make it a fight(can Machida elude Chael?).

One thing this fight will do is increase Machida's name recognition. Even after ending Randy Couture's career in sparkling fashion, along with the rest of his accolades(LHW Champion), I don't think Machida is as well known or as followed as the english speaking fighters. Also, people have complained that Machida isn't an exciting fighter. But when Chael is involved, you know it will be an exciting fight and he will make it exciting from the point the match has been confirmed (fuck, he's already made it exciting and begun the trash talking.)

If Chael wins, he puts himself in a good position for either a LHW or MW #1 contender spot because he's a draw and Machida is a well ranked opponent.
If Machida wins, he'll have gotten the rub for taking Chael's trash talk and making him eat his words and would likely be the next guy to go for the title after the Davis/Evans winner gets their shot.

I just don't like that my favorite middle weight and probably my favorite LHW are facing one another, because there has to be a loser.

If Chael loses, his next fight would probably be in the MW division against a 5-6 seed. I'm not sure how the MW's really rank up right now. You have Stann, Leben, Belfort, Bisping, and Mayhem Miller(to name a few.) If Chael loses, you'll probably see him fight the loser of Bisping/Miller.
If Machida loses, you'd probably see him drop to the point of a guy like Bader(or maybe Tito's current position after beating Bader.) Either way, he'd have to win a couple of fights to get back into title contention.

It is good to see Chael Sonnen back though. He really sold that fight with Anderson Silva last time around and then got in the octagon and followed through with what he said. If this match does indeed happen, it will be fun to watch for anyone not emotionally invested in either fighter.

 

[JenksIX]

Quote is from ESPN

 

[JenksIX]

Anyone know why Brian Stann isn't scheduled to fight yet? His last fight was over a month ago. Is he being held as a substitute in case Silva/Okami have to back out or something?
Silva/Okami(134), Belfort/Akiyama(133),
*Bisping/Miller: Lol, are the coaches actually gonna fight on the finale show? UFC must not see Mayhem as much of a draw. Before his fight(show) with Bisping was scheduled, I think he was set for a preliminary match on a PPV, before the spike prelims. I wonder if they're going to do any sort of UFC 14/Bully Beatdown cross over heh.

Anyway, just find it interesting Stann isn't booked for a match. Would he be next in line to face Anderson Silva? I just looked at UFC rankings and they're all weird. I didn't even see Stann's name. Alan Belcher is ranked behind Okami and Belfort and he's facing Jason McDonald at an Ultimate Fight Night, I think it'd be easy to say Stann is a bigger name then Belcher and is probably ahead in line.