UFC President Dana White Changes Stance, Bader and Machida to Receive Title Consideration as Well
By Chris Leslie on July 31, 2012
The day after stating that the winner of the UFC on Fox 4 main event would receive a title shot, UFC President Dana White has opened the opportunity to the co-headliners as well. After overwhelming negative reaction at yesterday’s news, White has opened the door to co-headliners Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader.
White told USA Today:
“I put together the fights that fans want to see,” White said. “The fans didn’t like the Rua and Vera choice, so here it is: The guy that wins most impressively on Saturday night out of the co-main event and the main event will get the shot at the winner of Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson.”
White stressed that simply winning will not be enough on Saturday and that it would take something spectacular to be awarded the shot.
It should be noted that this still leaves the door open for things to stay the same as previously reported, but it does present the added pressure of having to win big rather than just win. All four opponents have been finished by current champion Jon Jones, who faces former Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson at UFC 151 in September.
UFC on Fox 4 takes place this Saturday night, live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The four-fight card will also feature Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner and Mike Swick vs. Demarques Johnson in addition to the light heavyweight battles.
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Bader, really? Frankly, I don’t see any difference between he and Vera.
Looks like Dana’s out of ideas…I am actually laughing right now…
this sounds a litle beter for sure….BUT, it still is a little weak concidering JJ not only beat ALL FOUR of these guys, but destroyed ALL FOUR of these guys. i could understand if they were close fights, but none of these guys were close fights. Only way this little pickle gets solved is if Hendo beats JJ and then the doors will open up again. I would like to ses alexander gustafsson challenge JJ if bones wins..at least its a fight we havnt seen yet or a guy JJ hasnt already murdered.
This still seems weird to me. I understand they need a challenger for the lhw title after Jones/Henderson, but if Jones wins how many people are going to be interested in seeing a rematch with any of the 4 mentioned fighters? After this:
Vera – 3:19 rnd 1 – TKO
Bader – 4:20 rnd 2 – sub
Rua – 2:37 rnd 3 – TKO
Machida- 4:26 rnd 2 sub
thats what im sayin!! i wouldnt mind throwing Glovers name in with JJ if he beats Rampage in a spectacular way.
@crey
i too am pulling for Dan. Never ever ever bet aginst Dan!
@Newfie
I vote Rua because he lasted the longest :D
Rua is actually the only guy of the 4 I would like to see challenge ‘Bones’ again, unless Vera comes out with a fire we’ve never seen before and totally dismantles ‘Shogun’. And I guess Machida was doing well until he got caught.
@ lex
but he took the worse @ss kickin out of the bunch too…lol
I believe Shogun would have the best chance to beat Jones because his fight with Jones was him coming back from a long injury. However, you guys are forgetting that Hendo is going to be wearing the belt after he K.O.s Jones…. Hey a guy can dream.
I do like the fact that he actually listens to what the fans want. If only the NHL commissioner did the same!
Cheers
Edgar has had multiple cracks at the LW title …… Franklin had a second shot at the MW belt so why can’t Rua get a shot …. he is the former champion .
Little bit different with Edgar, he won it and then had to give a rematch… then defended, and had to give a rematch.. then lost a fairly close decision. So it’s a little different than someone who was battered before going down by KO.
Franklin also took out the number one contender before his rematch. Rua is coming off a loss and facing a guy who is only back because his opponent was apparently not human. Not to mention the fact that Vera barely beat Eliot Marshall (and nearly lost by technical submission).
Out of the four guys I would like it to be machida just cause the first round he did better than anyone else has.
really the only hope for the division is for jones to lose (and I don’t think he win), otherwise, its just a weak division right now with no clear challenging next on the list… I say give it to Gustavson or anyone he hasn’t beaten down..
I think everyone is missing a potential option here. If Jones wins, I think this will be his last fight at LHW. I see him moving up to HW and the winners on Sat night matched up for the LHW championship. I mean when the next potential 4 challengers have all steady been decimated by the current champ, I think its safe to say he has cleaned out the division.
What he means by “listens to the fans” is still “do whatever makes them the most money” more than pick the most fitting contender imo. He heard us complain loud and clear that we didn’t want eother of those potential fights and realized it would be a less successful ppv imo. But at least he’s tryin to make it right.
Honestly there is no clear and ready contender, but Gustaffson would be the most ready. Second to that would be whoever wins and looks most successful doing so between the two lhw fights Sat then facing Gustaffson for numbers one contender fight. Imo. Especially if it was Bader, as he just beat a top 5 in rampage, and with a win over machida, he would be primed to take on Gustaffson for top contender. This is the type of process I would at least expect anyway. I guess we’ll see what happens.
Chael interferes in both matches “in impressive fashion” and gets the shot
you read my mind… steel chair or sledgehammer?
Flaming barbed wire bat!
I think the most intriguing LHW matchup is already going down …. Jones vs Henderson .
What if Dan henderson wins???
Give him the only man who has beaten him. Matt hamill!!!!!
I’d rather see Sonnen than machida or shogun. Any day. But anyway…yeah go bader, vera, and mostly… hendo!
Truth is the two favorites are the guys coming of losses and for rua 2 of his last 3 and machida in 3 of his last 4, so it seems a bit crey to give either of those guys a shot.
IMO…
I think Machida would beat JONES in a rematch…Machida was in there giving a good fight until he got that bad cut and f*cked up his game plan.
2nd option for me would be RUA, he faught Jones super out of shape and also having just come out of a ACL injury…
3rd option Gustaffson, but I still this kid in need of 2 or 3 more quality fights to polish him up more.
Looks like Machida will be getting a rematch.
This division needs some life. If Jones wins he should move up to heavyweight so there can be a LHW tournament.
I wouldn’t mind seeing machida take another crack on it. He took the last fight under short noticed, and in that fight he looked kinda fat. If machida prepares well and gets in shape, I think he can be a threat to jones.