Dana White reveals that Machida went back on his word for money

It’s often said that actions speak louder than words, and money speaks louder than both. That certainly appears to have been the case in the UFC 133 saga according to Dana White, who has publicly blasted his former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and his management for going back on their promise to fight Rashad Evans over money.

With Tito Ortiz seemingly out of the running, the MMABay Radio crew agreed on Wednesday afternoon that Lyoto Machida’s announced participation in the UFC 133 main event was only a matter of time. I speculated that ‘The Dragon’s apparent rejection of the fight was simply a stalling tactic implemented by his notoriously shrewd manager Ed Soares, in a bid to get his athlete premium compensation for saving the UFC’s skin on three weeks notice. Mrs Machida had earlier protested that her husband had only turned the fight down “for the sake of professionalism” , but it appears that the karate-stylist’s reasons weren’t so noble after all.
Speaking to MMAJunkie on Wednesday evening, an angry and frustrated Dana White revealed that Machida had indeed accepted the bout, before coming back to the table to demand more money when White attempted to seal the deal. Needless to say, Machida and his representatives took a full magazine from the  patented ‘Dana White semi-automatic bluntness cannon’ at point blank range…

“Machida accepted the fight. 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 f***ing kidding me? I’ll tell you what. You tell Machida he achieves what f***ing Anderson Silva has achieved, then maybe he’ll make Anderson Silva money. Have a nice day.’”

Boom, headshot. Far from being a one off, this is just the latest in a long line of difficult negotiations between White and Soares dating back a number of years. The Brazilian super-agent once wielded immense power at the negotiating table, with Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, the Nogueira brothers and Junior Dos Santos all at or near the top of their respective divisions. Soares’ position may have weakened considerably since then (the Nogueira’s have struggled in the cage, Machida lost his title and his aura and Dos Santos recently left the fold) but he still runs the pipeline for bringing high-level Brazilian talent into the UFC.
If there’s one thing Dana doesn’t like it’s being on the back foot, and Soares latest attempt to flex his managerial muscle at the UFC’s expense may have been a step too far. With just three weeks to go before fight night, the UFC was in an unenviable position. Despite a long lay-off Rashad Evans is no pushover, with only a single defeat (ironically to Machida) to his name. In addition, the UFC 133 main event was to act as a title eliminator for the light heavyweight division. Finding not just a worthy opponent, but one that would accept the fight on three weeks notice was always going to be difficult and with a jam-packed summer schedule, Machida was the only viable candidate. It was Karate or bust.
Soares is a smart manager, of that their is no doubt. He knew that his man could solve the riddle of Rashad; he’d done it once before in brutally effective fashion. But Machida had lost two of his last three, and the prospect of his charge going 1-3 was none too appealing. If Lyoto was going to follow his fighter’s heart and accept this challenge then he was going to have to be compensated. According to White though, Machida had already agreed to the fight and with few other options on the table, Dana felt like he was being taken for a ride.

“They said, ‘Machida will fly out there tomorrow if you pay him what you pay Anderson Silva. They said they’d do the deal, then I call back to make it and that’s what they said.”

Part of being a strong manager is knowing when to play your hand and turn another’s desperation into a personal opportunity. Unfortunately for Soares Dana called his bluff; it appears that after a year of postponing and losing lucrative fights to injury, the UFC president had had enough. Thankfully he had an unexpected ace in the hole; Tito Ortiz, a man known for anything but a comfortable relationship with White, picked up the phone and offered his service in the spot he had turned down just hours before.

“Tito turned it down, and then Tito called back and said, ‘Did you get the fight yet?’ I said, ‘Nope.’ He goes, ‘Let me think about it. Let me talk to my team, and I’ll call you back tomorrow.’ This was Tuesday night.”

By Wednesday evening the deal was done. While terms are obviously being kept behind closed doors, Tito is too shrewd a businessman not to be compensated for his efforts, especially with the only other viable option now firmly off the table. White hinted that there was perhapse more to it than money though. Not only is the proverbial Sword of Damocles no longer hanging over Tito’s head should he fail to topple ‘Suga Rashad’, a win against the current number one contender could incredibly put him back in the 205lb title hunt.

“Tito stepped up to the plate. The storyline is what’s so interesting. Tito went from ‘You’re about to be cut,’ to now, if he beats Rashad Evans, he’s back in the mix. He’s back in the picture.”

Ortiz will open as a heavy underdog against Evans, a man he would have beaten back in 2007 had he not been docked a point for grabbing the cage. Still, he was an underdog against Ryan Bader and look what happened there. Tito Ortiz fighting for the UFC light heavyweight championship in 2012? I won’t be holding my breath, but the odds just got a hell of a lot shorter.
As for Machida, his position is now more unenviable than ever. He’s back without an opponent for the foreseeable future, with the current crop of ranked light heavyweights all otherwise engaged. On top of that, it’s unlikely that White and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva will be going out of their way to find Machida a favourable match-up any time soon. As Dana has shown in the past, if you don’t play ball with him, you don’t play ball at all.
As for Soares, as long as there’s money to be made then the UFC will continue to do business with the Portuguese-speaking powerhouse. With the promotion currently expanding into Brazil, Soares’ monopoly on local talent makes him a valuable asset…just so long as he remembers where the real power lies. Still, I wouldn’t put it past White to share a wry smile with himself at the thought of Anderson Silva and the Nogueira brothers falling in battle next month.
For other managers or fighters with designs on testing the UFC’s negotiating mettle, the last 24 hours has served as a stark warning shot. Even with their backs firmly against the wall, the promotion will not set a president by capitulating. A stark warning indeed, and a sign of things to come.
By Brad Wharton