2 month was wayyyy too short of a time for him to recover and get ready 
Totally agree, that wasn't the same guy who fought Weidman, Mousassi etc. I feel like his coaches made a big mistake in letting him take it so soon, it's very hard to peak so quickly, never mind recover from the beating in the Rockhold fight.
Im a HUGE fan so it was hard to watch after seeing what he looked like as soon as he stepped in.
Excuses excuses. 
Needlemover - Excuses excuses.An excuse yes, but a valid one. He lost however and thats that
Hindsight.
Fapping2FabersButtChin - Hindsight.Like betting against Rocky in Rocky 3. Hindsight 20/20
I think anyone involved in the fight game thought to themselves "this is too soon" when they saw Machida step up. He's an amazing fighter but Luke R gave him a beating and he was dropped twice. I think it's a valid point made by OP
Fighters are just trying to finish up their contracts. They want out.