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ROUNDTABLE (pt. 2 of 2): What should be next for Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida following their split decision bout at UFC 123? Perez, Matthew, Williams and Penick
Nov 27, 2010 - 2:30:12 PM ROUNDTABLE (pt. 2 of 2): What should be next for Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida following their split decision bout at UFC 123? Perez, Matthew, Williams and Penick

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What should be next for Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida following their split decision bout at UFC 123? 

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Both Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida, regardless of who won or lost, are still at the top of the light-heavyweight title hunt.  In reality, a fight for both would easily be determined by the winner/loser of A.) Ryan Bader or Jon Jones and B.) Rich Franklin or Forrest Griffin.  A rematch with Griffin for Jackson would be a decent fight, but a more exciting fight lies with the winner(s) of either fight.  Machida would be a great challenge for either of the up-and-comers in Bader and Jones.  That's where the recent UFC 123 headliners will be headed, somewhere between those two fights.  

SAM MATTHEW, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I can see why you could give Rampage and Machida an instant rematch, with the fight being a close split decision.  And I can see why Dana White is so against the idea, the actual fight having little action with Rampage not attacking aggressively and Machida avoiding to counter in his usual style.  While I disagree with the judges decision, having personally given Machida rounds two and three quite obviously and round one being the only possible round Rampage could have won, as far as what's next for the two fighters I'm not quite sure.  While it'd be great to see Jon Jones face either man, I doubt that's going to happen until later in 2011.  Maybe match Rampage up with Lyoto's teammate Rogerio Nogueira for some rivalry and have Machida square off against Rich Franklin or Forrest Griffin.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Rampage Jackson will need to fight and win again before he gets a title shot.  He should be put in against the winner of Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin, and the winner of Rampage vs Griffin/Franklin could face the winner of Shogun Rua vs. Rashad Evans.  Lyoto Machida is a tougher case.  Either would be a fight he'd be expected to win handily, but I might go with Machida vs. Matt Hamill or Brandon Vera (if Vera beats Thiago Silva, which he probably won't). 

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I think it's going to ultimately come down to how the Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin fight plays out at UFC 126 in February to determine who these two face. If Griffin wins, it's an easy rematch to sell between him and Rampage, with the winner getting a chance to reclaim the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. In that situation, Machida could face Franklin in a rematch of a bout the two had in 2003.

If Franklin wins, however, and if either Jon Jones or Ryan Bader look impressive beating the other, I think Rampage faces the winner of that fight instead. Rampage's fight would still be a number one contender's bout, but Machida's options would open up from there. A fight with Franklin could still be on tap, as could a fight against the loser of Jones-Bader. Matt Hamill is a name that keeps being thrown out that could make sense as well. It really just depends on what the UFC wants to do, but those are all viable options.

RELATED: Part one of this roundtable with responses from Hansen, Lee, Hyden, Hobaugh and Amadi: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]