Lyoto Machida talks about declining title shot at Jon Jones – UFC News
It seems like the Ultimate Fighting Championship is going the toughest time these days. First, it was Dan Henderson who backed out of UFC 151 due to an injury, causing the entire card to wreck. Then, it was Lyoto Machida who declined a fight against Jon
Jones at UFC 152, compelling the organisation to bring Vitor Belfort in the scene as Jones’ next opponent.
“If he has to take another fight before the title fight, that's okay too. But one thing that we want to know is we want to make sure that he's 100-percent prepared for this next title shot,” said Ed Soares in an interview to MMAWeekly.com.
Following Dan Henderson’s injury, President of UFC Dana White offered ‘The American Gangster’ Chael Sonnen the opportunity to fight Jones. However, the light heavyweight champion declined the idea, saying he is not comfortable with changing opponents just
eight days prior to the show. Chael Sonnen even called up Jones to convince him but it did not happen. In other words, Jones was considered the main reason for UFC 151’s cancellation.
Later on, Jones apologised to the fans but insisted that he has to do the right thing for himself. According to Jones, he has no problem in taking a fight against anyone of UFC 152, even if it is Chael Sonnen.
Same is the case with Lyoto Machida, who is currently the number one contender for the title. The UFC decided to give Machida his shot, without discussing the date with him. In a recent press conference, the organisation revealed Machida as Jones’ next opponent.
However, to their dismay, Machida declined the offer.
Now, it is old-school fighter Vitor Belfort who will be taking on Jones.
“Every guy who has lost to a champion twice in that weight division basically has to reinvent themselves and most likely change weight divisions. For us, the way I look at it, that's a big step. For the UFC potentially, it's just another event. It's just
UFC 151 or 152 or whatever it is, but for Lyoto it's a much bigger decision in his life,” added Soares.
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