1. I don't think that Mauricio " Shogun " Rua deserves a title shot.
2. I think he should face at least 2 more opponents before getting a title shot.
3. But I also think that Machida won't beat Rua as easily as you guys think he will ifthis fight really is happening, andespecially if Rua is back into fighting form.

: Machida also has wins over Rich Franklin, BJ Penn & Tito Ortiz

WOAH WOAH WOAH.... slow your roll all you Machida Jabroni's!

The guy has JUST won the LHW strap, it's the FASTEST hand changing title in MMA. JUMP OFF HIS JOCK.

& WTF is with people giving Shugon less than half a chance?

Are you new to MMA? Is Forrest Griffen your favorite fighter?

if you've followed MMA as long as I have, (18yrs) then there's NO WAY IN HELL you're about to count Shogun out of a fight! The guy ruined his knee by smashing skulls in the most brutal fashion since Wandy, and he did it for our SICK & TWISTED pleasure! and THIS is how you repay him? The guy is only 27 & he's a fucking VET. 4 years ago he was the best 205'er on the planet. He tried to come back too soon & went 1-1 with 2 lack luster fights, BIG DEAL. ANY of you wouldn't even make it off your stool to touch gloves with Coleman at 100%, never mind beating him with a blown out, double surgery knee injury!!

Give the guy a break.

WAR Shogun, if you don't like it, go drink piss & sign up for karate

To Lidell: I am not impress by your per-four-manz.....

Alright, this "Machida Era" shit is ridiculous. He got the belt last fucking week! He's been a boring fighter up until his past two fights. Were you guys saying it was "Anderson's Era" a week after he took the belt from Franklin? I don't think so. Now, I'll give it to Machida; he's a dominant fighter. BUT, unlike the rest of the light heavyweight champions before him, the majority of his fights have been snore-fests. I hope Shogun shows up like he did in Japan (probably won't happen) and TKOs Machida just so you guys can hop off Machida's nuts. This "Machida Era" shit is getting out of hand.

Even bandwagon-fags are picking Machida 24/7 on UFC 2009 Undisputed now.

SHOGUN FTW

I look forward to this fight! Ill be getting it on pay per view for sure!!!

haha, Rampage is afraid of Machida. Who woulda thought

Rampage - Lost to Forrest, Beat Jardine, KO'ed Wanderlei
Shogun - Lost to Forrest, Beat Coleman, KO'ed Liddell

I don't really see where Rampage deserves the title shot more. Jardine was clearly better than Coleman, but both lost to Forrest and both KO'ed fading stars. Both also looked kinda bleh (in the Jardine and Coleman fights respectively). Lest we not forget that Shogun had that blownout knee and the 2 surgeries. There is no way you come back from that injury @ 100% and fight as quick as he did. Either way, I feel like it could really be a toss up. Everybody knows the UFC focuses on matchmaking and not so much #1 contenders, so don't complain about it when someone you think should be the #1 doesn't get the shot. I'm a fan of rampage and shogun, but let's be honest Rampage CHOSE to go on his revenge tour and forego the title shot. His record in the past 3 is also the same as Shogun's and isn't really all that different.

Now that Rua has seemed to figure out how to get in shape without the Japenese steroids it will be an interesting fight.

I am sick of everyone always asking for the "superfight". I personally want to see GSP fight 3 or 4 more challengers at 170 before we think about Anderson Silva. What's wrong with the champ defending the belt for awhile? We haven't had it happen in MMA in a long time so you think we would want to see it.

Throw all the 205's in a tournament format if we all have no clue where they stand.

I must be missing something... why didn't Rua look good against Chuckers? He brutally KO'd him in the 1st - even faster than Evans - and he never looked sloppy or off his game. In fact, he looked sharp as hell that night. Dude had the mojo going.

I'd prefer to watch Rampage get taken down a peg, but he chickened out, which is almost better. And all you 'Page fans only have him to blame for that.

Rua is definitely Lyoto's next best opponent right now. I'd even say he's got a better chance at winning than Jackson. Regardless, I'm just glad I get to see The Dragon fight again this year.

Jeez, honestly. Does anyone think Rampage would do better? Slow, predictable Rampage? No-kick-throwing Rampage? No-kick checking-Rampage? One-punch-throwing Rampage?

Really?

What fight would you rather see? The matchmaking is awesome because it's the most exciting fight. And since when does the UFC give title shots based on UFC wins? They didn't with Lesnar or Hendo. Look at Lutter, Cote and Thales Leites (who beat 8-5 Drew effing Mcfedries). But no one wants to see Okami, despite his wins, because he's boring. That's fine with me. What about Serra v. GSP 1? And Rashaad beat Salmon and Chuck.

Just enjoy an awesome fight. It's not the NCAA. It's the sweet science of avoiding Clay Guida v. Gray Maynard.

haha i hope everyone thinks karate boy is gonna beat shogun. Betus here I come!

So is Cage Potato trying to make me hate Lyoto?
Every fuckin thing I read about him makes him out to be the new Fedor.
He beat Rashad.
That's the only fighter of note he's ever beaten.
He's no destroyer of worlds.
He's a dude that knows how to counter punch.
All of this Lyoto dick sucking has officially made me hope for him to lose.
....which is the same reason I bet for Mike Brown to beat Faber.
Fantastic.

"I am job"

Whether you think Shogun deserves it or not, its a great first title defense for Machida. Hes a seasoned, well rounded vet of the sport who has all the ability in the world to upset Lyoto his first timeout. Maybe he hasnt put in the work in UFC, but hes put more than enough work in, in MMA.

@ Lonewolf...

derderder open forum... you're lame.

I am going to laugh my ass off when Shogun shows up in shape and smashes Machida... Not saying the "Machida Era" will be over already, but you all are WAY to quick to dismiss it and quite frankly all the anger is ridiculous. Everyone looks at it differently but I can see why he got the title shot.

Better than not getting to see Lyoto fight again until after the Rampage v Evans fight.

But my question is, what happens if Rashad wins that bout? Do we really give him the next title shot after that? Will he really have improved enough over six months to make up for getting his shit pushed in the first time against Lyoto?

I've always beleived that the post-Couture/Liddel/Ortiz era LHW division was wildly overrated, and the weakest division in UFC. Now its been proven. There really aren't any monsters in that class.

The "Machida Era" though? Come back and tell me about after he's defended his title oh let's say....once?

After he's cleaned out the division and beaten Griffin, Rampage, Shogun, Hendo, Vandy, Franklin, Liddel, Jardine, Vera, Jon Jones, Couture(?) THEN come and tell me how unbeatable he is. But seriously folks, his first 5 out of 7 UFC wins have consisted of decisions against Sam Hoger, David Heath, Kaz Nakimura and Tito Ortiz, with a sub thrown in against Sokodju. Hardly impressive in the least. Hell, if I could go back fifteen years in a time machine, I could probably decision Hoger, Heath, and Kaz myself.

Then you add in KOs over Thiago Silva (whose biggest claim to faim was TKOs over Houston Alexander and James Irvin) and Rashad Evans in his last two fights and all of a sudden he's GOD???!!!!

B&B and DW need to put down the Kool Aid. I for one, am not drinkin' it. Check back with me in two or three years and then we can talk about the "Machida Era". Until then, I'll take the odds. My money will be on his opponents.

@ Dante

This is an open forum. You can feel free to state your opinion just like the rest of us..... BTW: everyone is bias.....and you know what I just might already be retarded.....does that make you feel better?

Rua in the FALL, wtf? how does he get a shot at anything. Lyoto should be fighting Rampage for christ's sake, Rua doesn't deserve jack-shit at the moment he's at least 3 fights away from having that opportunity, look how long it took Machida to get a shot,this blows.

It's pretty annoying how bias this site is when reporting.

I hope Shogun ruins Machida's life so you dudes look retarded.

@Swedish - Shogun had 3 fights in the UFC and its not like they were all close together, pretty spaced out between fights. He look good in none of them.
Ok he was hurt fighting Forrest..ok I'll give that to you but what was the excuse vs Coleman? He fought Chuck for around a minute or more and the fight was over. He has yet to show that he can even hang with a top 205'r now. Hell 5 years ago Cro-cop was killing guys and Wandy was still a beast... face it... this is not Pride and these guys are not the same as they used to be. I loved watching Shogun fight and was happy when he came over, but thus far all he has been is one big excuse or injury. If he was hurt so bad before then why take those fights?
In my book you can only use the injury excuse once, so far thats all I have heard.
He was hurt....

1) Not a gimme title defense. Lyoto has not been seriously tested or hit (which is a credit to him) so there is interest in this fight against a veteran well rounded fighter. Either way it is interesting to see him have to defend this belt that hasn't been defended much in a long time.

2) Quit it with the TUF show has to go crap. The UFC has done a good job not handing TUF alums easy fights and then one day handing them the belts. They have to earn it after the show just like Pride, WEC, IFL....guys. If you don't like the show and find it irrelevent, don't watch it.

3) The time off between fights is not just with guys coaching TUF. Injuries are one thing, but guys win by armbar in the first round and then don't fight for 4 months. It's annoying and it doesn't take that long to have a "great camp" unless you started completely out of shape.

@karate is back

I completely agree they have no choice "now". Because they want the pay day more, so of course they have no other options the decisions have already been made.

Payday First,
Legitimate fights Second


____
My apologies, I'm just freaking pissed at this whole situation. Stupid Dana, stupid Joe

Might be 'cause he's in the process of getting rocked, but Chuck doesn't look a day under 50 in that pic.

Wow, I already feel a bad case of déjà vu coming on...

People were split 50/50 on the Coleman fight, and then thought Chuck was going to eat him alive. He proved everyone wrong.

He improved by leaps and bounds in my opinion in those three months he spent prepping between UFC 95 and UFC 97. I can't even imagine the amount he will improve between now and October given he is now training at a new camp.

All the hype surrounding Machida and how "he will be king of the division for as long as he wants" is eerily similar to what we heard about GSP the first time around. This is the fight of the year that has all the makings of a severe upset in my opinion.

I'll go out on a limb and call it right now.. Shogun Rd. 1 TKO.

they really had no other choice. though i dont think Shogun deserves the shot, they couldn't really do anything. Rashad and Rampage are gonna coach TUF, Thiago Silva is going to fight Jardine, Forrest is fighting Anderson. If they waited for something to come up Machida wouldn't defend the title til the end of the year at the soonest.

@Swedish

No hate towards shogun.....hate towards the UFC for continuing to have there champs face challengers that don't deserve a shot yet. This is def not the first occasion nor the last...but honestly as much as Im a fan, Shogun should have at least one more fight before he gets a shot.

Shogun was injured thus the bad performances. I think he's back and in good form.

This will be a competitive, exciting bout that will be talk about for a long time.

Please stop the hate

man this is going to be a give me title defense. I understand rashard vs rampage will be a huge draw but come on man shogun vs machida will not be that exciting at all

UFC effing blows sometimes.......how the heck can you keep pulling shit like this and expected people to respect the legitimacy of there champions......if anything this is just about as disrespectful as what happened to Anderson the last 2 times out.....

Even more unfortunate is that the fighters barely have any say.

@ Dana White: I have a sincere respect for what you have done for the sport but right now, you're effing up!! Shit head

Great headline! lol

Eff that, hurt that fool...I highly doubt he'll be able to hang with Lyoto. Should be an entertaining fight, but I would much rather see Rua fight Rashard and then Rampage fight for the title...but hey money talks, and TUF is obviously more important then matching up legitimate contenders for the champ.

Not more than 5 years ago? I don't know. I remember the world of MMA was a little different than it is now, 5 years ago.

This just goes to show the holes in the UFC, and all of MMA, between the top-tier guys and the masses below. Seriously, there are no obvious or deserving challengers at 205.

By the way, how incredibly boring and irrelevant will TUF Rampage/Evans be? The show's gotta go.

I'm still not really sold on the resurgence of Mauricio Rua, but he definitely has the tools to make it competitive. Don't work on anything but your cardio, Shogun!

Last time I checked all Rashad did to earn a title fight against Forrest was beat Chuck Liddell oh yeah and Sean Salmon!

DAMN YOU POTATO!
Shogun has a pretty good chance in this fight, he was the orignal destroyer of worlds if you dont remember. He dimantled the PRIDE middleweight divsion not more than 5 years ago.

Lame.

Shogun's looked like crap since he got to the UFC.

Including his fight with Chuck. He just happened to be a split-second quicker.

Lyoto will rock Shogun. It will be another amazing show of skill on Lyoto's part. Sorry Shogun.

This is a better match-up for Lyoto. A healthy (hopefully) Rua is a more well rounded fighter than Rampage.

If this matchup was after the acquisition of Pride, everyone would be pumped. Shogun will put on a good show...hopefully...

lame