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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Following the decision of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to take a stint as coach on the Ultimate Fighter and a fight against Rashad Evans instead of a title shot against Lyoto Machida, speculation on who would be chosen for Machida's first title defense began. Now multiple reports today are stating that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has agreed to the bout, which would likely take place in October. The UFC recently announced a return to Los Angeles on October 24th, and it's probable that this bout would be the main event.
"Shogun" is 2-1 in the UFC, though he's only had one really good performance in the Octagon, that being a knockout victory over Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 last month. Before that, he had a sloppy, gassed out victory over Mark Coleman in January in what was his first fight in nearly a year and a half due to injury. His debut in the UFC was a third round submission loss to former Light Heavyweight Champion and original Ultimate Fighter Forrest Griffin.
Machida is said to be taking some time off for a vacation after capturing the Light Heavyweight Championship last weekend, and then he'll return to training to prepare for his first defense. If this fight gets signed, it will again likely headline the October 24th event, which would presumably be UFC 104.
Penick's Analysis: With Rampage wanting his "grudge match" against Rashad and Forrest tied up with facing Anderson Silva in August, Shogun makes the most sense to face the new Champ of those available. Unfortunately, it may be perceived as an undeserved shot, as he's truly only had one really good performance in the UFC thus far, but he looked infinitely better in April than he did in January, so more time to get back into the groove will only be a good thing. And besides, he was still one of the most highly regarded light heavyweights upon his debut and due to injuries and time off hasn't really had a chance to show that side yet. He'll certainly have a chance against Machida, but the Champ will almost certainly be the favorite coming into this one.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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