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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
While it was reported this week that the UFC was now looking at Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping given the continued trash talking between the two, UFC President Dana White shot that down on Thursday night, saying Rockhold vs. Lyoto Machida is still the plan.
"We're looking at Rockhold-Machida in Brazil," White said at UFC.com. "That's what we're looking at."
He's not ruling out a potential Rockhold-Bisping fight in the future, but says Rockhold's got Machida ahead of him first.
"Anything is possible," White said. "Michael Bisping is ranked number eight in the world. Rockhold is number five. They'll meet each other anyway eventually, but Rockhold has got Machida first."
Penick's Analysis: Rockhold-Machida headlining the Nov. 8 card on Fox Sports 1 from Brazil makes sense right about now, though they could also have that co-headline UFC 179 on Oct. 25. That's the unfortunate thing about them not running more five-round fights, because while the fight could help prop up the Jose Aldo-Chad Mendes rematch in October, I'd rather see Rockhold and Machida get five rounds.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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