You don't renege on verbal agreements. If they had demands prior to accepting the fight, I'm sure Dana and co. would have heard them out. They still wouldn't have given him Anderson Silva money, but they would have been more receptive to their negotiations for sure. You can't accept the fight and then make demands a day later. That's just bad business.
Machida would have been doing the UFC a favor and I'm sure he would have been compensated with a nice locker room bonus. I realize that he would have been taking this fight on short notice, but he had the opportunity to get a #1 contender fight over someone he's already KTFO'd. If Machida thought that this fight was too short notice, he wouldn't have agreed to do it in the first place. At the very least, this was a chance for him to get a relevant match. I can't think of any other fights he could take right now without taking a big step down in competition.
It wouldn't have been all bad for Machida either. Thus far, Rashad has been traning for Davis, which needless to say, is a much different fight than Machida. Rashad will also be fighting on a 15 month layoff, so ring rust will definitely be a factor.
Of course, this is all assuming that what we're being fed is true. I'm not going to pretend that I know all of the details, but this just looks bad on their part. I can see why JDS has recently parted ways.
Bad move by machida...
Fighting Hashad on 3 weeks notice is way better than having to fight shogun with a full training camp.
Nice post, I agree. I wasn't too excited to see Machida/Evans again anyway, though. However, that was likely Machida's best move. He blew it. Now, who knows how long he'll be out of the cage or who he's gonna fight. If he wanted back into the title picture, Evans was his best bet.
MMALOGIC - Bad move by machida...
Fighting Hashad on 3 weeks notice is way better than having to fight shogun with a full training camp.
Why should any professional, in any pursuit, have to rely on "being compensated by a nice lockerroom bonus?"
He's worth the money, or he isn't, but to rely on a non-guaranteed payment is foolish.
Macedawgg - Why should any professional, in any pursuit, have to rely on "being compensated by a nice lockerroom bonus?"
He's worth the money, or he isn't, but to rely on a non-guaranteed payment is foolish.
That is fine but don't agree to fight then later try to demand more money
Macedawgg - Why should any professional, in any pursuit, have to rely on "being compensated by a nice lockerroom bonus?"Good point, but regardless of pay, I think that taking this fight was the best option for him. The only other top 10 guy available is Shogun. That is a tougher fight for him and I don't think a win over Shogun puts him into title contention. A win over Rashad probably puts him next in line.
He's worth the money, or he isn't, but to rely on a non-guaranteed payment is foolish.
Machida is a superstar. He needs to be treated like one
Deuce77 - The thing with taking a fight on short notice is that if you lose Dana and the fans pretty much give you a "pass".....If you win, you're great for taking a fight on short notice and winning.
Yep...win/win situation.
Do we know he verbally accepted (ie: committed to) the match? Or was it more like:
UFC: "we need you to step in, can you do that for us?"
Lyoto "Yeah, no problem, let's talk to my manager to work out the details"
UFC: "Lyoto has agreed to fight!"
joe canada - Do we know he verbally accepted (ie: committed to) the match? Or was it more like:LOL. That's probably how it went down too...
UFC: "we need you to step in, can you do that for us?"
Lyoto "Yeah, no problem, let's talk to my manager to work out the details"
UFC: "Lyoto has agreed to fight!"
joe canada - Do we know he verbally accepted (ie: committed to) the match? Or was it more like:
UFC: "we need you to step in, can you do that for us?"
Lyoto "Yeah, no problem, let's talk to my manager to work out the details"
UFC: "Lyoto has agreed to fight!"
lol, but I'd be really surprised if Dana/Joe would actually offer a fight to Machida directly. That would have to go through his manager, especially when you consider the guy barely speaks any English.
Machida screwed up. fact is he would make more taking this short notice fight then he would in his normal contract, and a win cements him as the number 1 contender.
And as has already been said, rashad is an easier matchup for him then alot of other top contenders.
I gave tito alot of shit for passing up this fight at first, but i give him credit for stepping up and taking it.
Machida really f-d up not taking this fight
short notice = undertrained = much more likely to lose = deserved pay increase
Makes no sense
Bader just lost
Davis is hurt
Jones is fighting Rampage
Forrest is fighting Shogun
Franklin has a fight
So Machida is moving backwards and im sure he was a win or two away from a title shot, now id beat Tito//Evans and Forrest/Shogun are all ahead of him
Sucks when fighters fight for money and not to be the best 
ranier wolfcastle - short notice = undertrained = much more likely to lose = deserved pay increase
he would have gotten more money guaranteed. but he wanted the type of money his training partner and UFC champ was making which is a joke imo. bad career move
Maybe Machida wasn't motivated since he already sealed the deal last time on Rashad. Therefore, there was another motivating factor that he needed and that is money.
Stop pretending like you all know what goes through a fighter's head. He is the one going through grueling training, he is the one getting the shit kicked out of him every sparring session, he is the one putting in work to feed his family, he is the one who makes the decisions and nobody can fault him for that.
Tito vs Rashad makes MUCH more sense since they fought to a draw last time.
Machida already knocked out Evans. What does he need to prove in this fight?
sureshock - Maybe Machida wasn't motivated since he already sealed the deal last time on Rashad. Therefore, there was another motivating factor that he needed and that is money.
Stop pretending like you all know what goes through a fighter's head. He is the one going through grueling training, he is the one getting the shit kicked out of him every sparring session, he is the one putting in work to feed his family, he is the one who makes the decisions and nobody can fault him for that.
Tito vs Rashad makes MUCH more sense since they fought to a draw last time.
Machida already knocked out Evans. What does he need to prove in this fight?
I never claimed to know what is going through Lyoto's head, but I also don't think that he's the one making the decisions. He has a manager for that.
And I understand that he may not be motivated to knock Evans out again, but what other fight is there? Didn't he just say that he was open for a rematch against Tito? Seems like he's looking for a fight. This would have been the only relevant fight for him right now and probably makes him #1 contender with a win. I think that this may have been a fight that he wanted, but his management fumbled the entire situation.