When Phil Davis dropped out of his scheduled UFC 133 main event fight against Rashad Evans, a replacement was needed to salvage a fight card that was already lacking in hype to begin with.
Apparently he was -- but only if the UFC was willing to pay him "Anderson Silva money." That's according to The MMA Show, who got the scoop directly from Dana White.
The response to Machida's demand was simple: "Accomplish what Anderson Silva has and you will be paid like him."
Sounds harsh, but White and company didn't make their millions by kowtowing to fighters and not playing hardball at the negotiating table. That said, do you agree with Machida for demanding that much money? And what about White for his graceful denial?
Brian Rule - This is fucking stupid. Lyoto would never say that. This is just Dana putting words into his mouth and the simple MMA media running with it.
yeah...i don't see lyoto as having that kind of character
I AM A MOFO - Machida could make 185 and accomplish everything that Anderson has, imo.
Machida is not a particularly large or ripped LHW. I have no doubt he could make 185, probably without much more trouble than Anderson.
I also firmly believe that he would not lose to anyone Anderson has beaten in the UFC.
Give the man his money. And I'm not even a Machida fan but it feels like he's screwed as far as EVER making that kind of money because his weight division is significantly tougher.
I like Machida, but he's won 1 of his last 3 fights and the fight before that was debatable. Not quite the time to ask for a raise. Like Tito asking for a raise all the time when he wasn't making impressive performances.
"MonsterBalls-Dana's choice of words aren't always accurate. Machida could simply have asked for more money to step in on late notice and Dana could be putting a spin on things. It's not the first time White has gone off half cocked. Remember when he shredded Cro-Cop (and Ariel did also) when it turns out it wasn't accurate information and Cro-Cop didn't sign with Dream"
FieryErmine - I like Machida, but he's won 1 of his last 3 fights and the fight before that was debatable. Not quite the time to ask for a raise. Like Tito asking for a raise all the time when he wasn't making impressive performances.
probably not asking for a permanent raise, but just this one time for having to incur the substantial risk of losing the fight due to the short notice.
In my opinion Anderson would have a lot of trouble accomplishing what Machida has at light heavyweight, but Machida could do what Anderson has done at middleweight.
"Machida accepted the fight," White told MMAjunkie.com. "We knew for a couple days this was going down, and Machida accepted the fight. Then when we called back and said, 'OK, we're going to make this fight,' Machida's people came back and said, 'We'll tell you what. You pay us what you pay Anderson Silva, and we'll take the fight.' This was after they had already agreed to take the fight.
"I said, 'Are you [expletive] kidding me? I'll tell you what. You tell Machida he achieves what [expletive] Anderson Silva has achieved, then maybe he'll make Anderson Silva money. Have a nice day.'"
by Geno Mrosko 
