and when did machida get hurt against soko? (or against anyone?)
and when was he winning the striking (or anyone) was it in the first when soko took the fight down? or was it in the second when soko got dropped and choked out?
and calling soko’s grappling into question? this guys a judo player
and he shouldve knocked out kaz alot sooner

Since when did the UFC necessarily care about who’s “qualified” to fight who? That’s why Wanderlei versus Rampage might happen. Was Rampage qualified to face the then champion in Liddell? Or Anderson Silva against Franklin?

Dana more or less said, f*ck that . . . you’re fighting Chuck because you already beat him in Pride. Rampage wanted to build a name in the UFC first. The UFC is not thinking about fair when it comes to match ups. All the UFC needs to do is show the old footage of their current LHW being demolished by Wanderlei who just incredibly finished Jardine (who just beat Liddell, who just beat him) and build the title fight. Added plus, those guys really do not like each other. Let’s be clear about one thing, the fight business has never been about fair match-ups with guys who earned their stripes. Some champions are protected and fighters are coddled.

I believe just about any of the top guy in the LHW division can win the belt and lose the belt. All of the following fighters should be mixing it up: Rampage, Liddell, Wanderlei, Forrest(?), Evans(?) Shogun, Henderson, Thiago and yes Machida(?).
We already know how to effectively beat Jardine, Houston Alexander taught Wanderlei how its done. I mean that figuratively. Close the distance and put ‘em away.
Forrest(?) is top but let’s see what he does against Jackson.
Machida(?) let’s see what he does against a bigger name.
Evans(?) Let’s see what he does against a Wanderlei or Thiago Silva.

Last note about Machida . . . at this point, I’m really curious to see how his next opponent chooses to approach him. There’s more than enough video footage and everybody knows his overall style.

Wanderlei vs. Jackson III makes perfect sense?

Wanderlei is coming off of a seriously hard portion of his career, he’s got one win in his last four fights. He’s hardly at his peak in his career. It’s premature to give him a title fight after one win.

How does that make more sense than giving Rampage someone like Thiago? At least Thiago has won a bunch of fights in a row (his whole career, actually), and Thiago is coming off of a finish. Frankly, that fight makes alot more sense to me, and I’d like to see Wanderlei show that he’s really back.

I don’t really care what Rampage wants. I care who’s qualified to fight him, who has earned their title shots. I hardly think that, with one win between the two of them, Wanderlei and Shogun are worthy title contenders. They’re great fighters, and I remember their accomplishments from Pride well, but I don’t think that their qualifications in another organization should put them in position for a title shot, especially when they’ve performed so poorly over all in the cage.

Tito closed the distance multiple times. He just couldn’t do anything with Lyoto once he did, and that’s fine. It’s a tribute to Machida’s newfound wrestling ability and to Tito’s long since passage as a recognizable groundnpounder.

You’re right that how he matches up against Tito isn’t indicative of how he matches up with Forrest or ‘page. That’s not my point.

My point is that his style matches up badly. The style we’ve seen against Heath, Sokoudjou (who, in my opinion, beat Machida standing up), Nakamura, Heath and Hoger doesn’t match up well with Rampage or Forrest either. The five guys Machida has beaten standing up aren’t standup fighters. The one he beat on the ground (the only one he finished), hurt him really bad standing up.

Honestly, I think that if Machida fights Rampage, he’s going to get hurt like he did against Sokoudjou, but I don’t think that he’s going to be able to get that fight to the ground. We’ll see, but that’s how I see the fight unfolding.

You’re right that Rampage only fight Marvin Eastman (a great fighter, but, as you said, a journeyman) on his way to a title shot. And even Rampage said he though that it was premature to give him that title shot with only one fight in the cage. Honestly, the whole thing about giving fighters shots based on their past credibility is a phenomenon I’m not particularly fond of, because even though it has given us Rampage and (lest we forget) Anderson Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, it is totally different to give a title shot to a guy who has had one of the worst streaks in his entire career and is coming off of one win.

It’s not fair to Wanderlei to not let him regain his confidence and composure before putting him in the cage and it’s not fair to the rest of the title contenders to give him a title shot when there are plenty of guys out there who are at the peak of their careers and we’re not sure that Wanderlei is at a high-point in his at all.

Wanderlei vs Jackson III, makes sense for a couple of reasons.
- Silva is coming off a great impressive TKO win.
- He destroyed the current champ in their previous bouts . . .
- we know the UFC can market a rematch.
- Jackson would the rematch. He also wants Shogun.

I really don’t think Wanderlei needs any more practice in the cage. His record is his practice. He fought in the cage before CHASING Tito Ortiz. While Liddell is 0-2 versus the champ, the last fight leaving little to the imagination, Wanderlei’s 2-0 against the current champion will simply make a far exciting fight. Forget the tune-ups.

Was Tito able to close the distance against Machida? Tito is considered a strong wrestler. I wouldn’t assume anyone at this point would be able to easily close the distance against Lyoto Machida based off his speed, lateral movements, and his countering strikes. He also proved that he is strong in the clinch. Tito was not able to control Machida. Ortiz’s arm was pinned under Machida’s knee as he was getting hit in the face. He was possibly saved by the bell. I really think when it comes to Machida, you never know. How he matches up against Tito does not really indicate how he’ll match up against Forrest or Rampage.

Thiago fighting anyone in the LHW would be great including the champion.
Lest we forget, the current champion only fought a journeyman (Marvin Eastman) in the UFC on his way to a title shot.