Lyoto Machida declines to step in against Rashad Evans at UFC 133
Posted on July 13, 2011, 02:33 PM by Joey Santosus
Contrary to recent reports, former Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida will not be stepping in to face Rashad Evans at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Speaking to Tatame.com, Machida's manager Ed Soares cited a lack of sufficient time to prepare as the reason for "The Dragon's" reluctance to accept the bout on little more than three weeks notice.
"It won’t happen… I think he doesn't have enough time to get ready," Soares told TATAME. "I’m at Rio de Janeiro with Jose Aldo, Anderson (Silva) and (Rodrigo) Minotauro, do Joinha (Jorge Guimarães) is dealing with this negotiations, but, from what I know, it won’t happen."
Attempts to reach Guiamaraes were unsuccessful, however Caju Freitas of the Brazilian site Clicrbs.com did get word from Machida's camp, who added, "The fight is close and for the sake of professionalism we can not accept it. We always do our best, but there is just a few weeks remaining and it would not be fair to the fans to do a bad fight."
Machida is at least the second fighter to turn down the match-up, as UFC President Dana White revealed via Twitter on Tuesday that Tito Ortiz had also been offered and declined the fight.
The August 6th main event is just the latest in a series of cancled bouts and delayed title fights that have become the norm for Evans, who has not seen action since May of last year, when he defeated current title challenger Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
Machida, meanwhile, recently rebounded from a two-fight losing skid with a first-round knockout victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129. The Brazilian currently stands as the only fighter to defeat Evans after dethroning "Suga" in 2009 to take the Light Heavyweight strap.
Photo: UFC fighter Lyoto Machida at the Black House gym in Gardena, California on October 20, 2009. Francis Specker
Comments
Wow, Rashad, looks like your career is put on hold yet again. Strange that Tito being the "bad boy" didn't man up and take it. Seems all the shit hes been feeding everyone is flat out bulldung.
something always happens when Rashad is supposed to fight..... LOVE RASHAD MAN! They should put him against Shogun in Rio and do Tito vs Griffin again...IDK
That sucks but understandable....3-4 weeks isnt enough time to prepare for someone like Evans
leben will take this fight :D
shogun would be good
Leben so would. And he'd go in and KO lmao. He'd have to eat a bunch of pasta though.
Man..Rashad seems to be jinxed or something. Who's left to fight him?
vladdy
Tha janitor? Well.... Although it's not a major draw, it could actually be a good fight. They need more elite fighters in that division. It's very top heavy with a slim middle and lower tier
massive fan of vladi but dont really wanna see jones vs vlad2, can't see the outcome changing
Better yet...They should offer that to Chael Sonnen! He talks so much ish that I bet he'd take the fight....and the ass whoopin :-D .. That could actually draw more people I bet.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Rampage will get "hurt" soon and that will setup Rashad vs Jones.
Makes sense
You said it first.
Stephan Bonnar might be his last and best option for the moment and that's if he is not already scheduled to fight someone else.
nah Bonnar is injured. he pulled out of his fight with Vemola so i dont think he'd take this fight.
Bonnar's injured.
james toney would be a great replacement
realistically who else is there? id pay good money to see him fight franklin...shame hes got lil nog :(
Like I said before, This is a perfect time to merge more of the Strikeforce fighters to the UFC. Mousasi or King Mo would a very good replacement for this fight.
Mousasi would be awesome, if he's relatively unscratched after his fight in DREAM this weekend, he would be a good choice.
I think so also. I say King Mo also because he's always a good fight. Mo & Rashad have also been out since last summer.
Bad things are gonna happen to you. I got a sneaky suspicion
I understand Machida declining, but not Tito. No excuse for him, he had a short fight, no damage, and should be ready to go. GSP would be ready, because he trains full time. Tito probably gained 25 pounds already, and is probably a mess. Losing more respect for Ortiz after I just got through praising his last win.
yeah me too i lost respect to jenna when she announced her retirement
Lyoto made the right decision,Im glad he turned this fight down,wait it out dragon!
I'm confused didn't I just see yesterday that Tito had taken the fight?
Who said he didn't? It's an article about Machida declining , not accepting.