An intriguing fight between Brazilian stars Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort is believed to be under consideration for the co-main event of UFC 167 in November.
Adding extra spice to the match-up, the plan would be for Machida to move down to middleweight to take on ‘The Phenom’. That goes against Belfort’s recent claim that he would only fight at 185lbs for the title, but given the high-profile nature of his opponent in this instance it may well be enough to tempt him to change his mind.
It’s probably best not to count on it though as Belfort’s already turned down a fight with Tim Kennedy to the annoyance of the UFC, and if he truly believes he should be next in line for a shot at the belt then accepting a fight with Machida in the mean time would be a risky venture.
As for Machida himself, a move down to middleweight doesn’t come completely out of the blue as he has talked about doing so in the past, but up until this point he hadn’t committed to it.
A recent, somewhat controversial decision loss to Phil Davis has removed ‘The Dragon’ from the title picture at 205lbs for the time being though, so now would be as good a time as any to make the jump and potentially move into title contention at middleweight if he emerges victorious against Belfort.
If it does come about then Machida Vs Belfort would be a strong co-feature to the already scheduled welterweight title fight between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks which will headline the show in Las Vegas.
Speaking of which, the fact that the fight would be held in the fight capital could be an issue for Belfort as he’s not been given permission to use TRT in the state of Nevada due to him having failed a steroids test there in the past.
