Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida has today offered an explanation for wanting more money to want to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 133 early next month in Philadelphia, adding he hopes his comments haven’t harmed his relationship with the Las Vegas based promotion. Speaking via Sherdog.com, Machida said:
“I wanted a guarantee to fight [Evans at UFC 133]. My manager, ‘Joinha’ [Jorge Guimaraes], called me and I said at first that I was excited to be in the lineup. But, after meeting with my team, we saw that it wouldn’t be a good idea, especially because Dana White wanted me to travel to the U.S. immediately to have my training camp there. Many of the members of my corner don’t have visas right now. Then, I said, ‘If you want me to fight, pay me as a champion. Pay me like you pay Anderson Silva.”
“A man approaches you wanting to buy your house, but you don’t want to sell it. So then, you ask for a higher price. You want it? Then pay what I’m asking. I can’t put my career at risk with a bad showing. I think I’d have more to lose than to win in that fight. I have a name in the company. I don’t fight without being prepared, even when I lose. I can’t step in and take the chance of having a bad fight. Today, you have to be extremely prepared.”
“If I’m requested [to fight] in a different way from now on, OK. It’s not like I can’t train in Belem, but ‘pack your stuff and go to the U.S.,’ that takes money and time. It’s a professional relationship. Everything is business and people need to split things. I hope the UFC won’t harm me. It’s gotta be 100-percent with me and them. I want to respect the promotion, my fans and myself. That was my main cause for turning down that fight.”
Evans will now go head-to-head with Tito Ortiz in a rematch of their UFC 73 clash from four years ago, a fight that ended in a draw after “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” had a point deducted for repeatedly grabbing the cage. Who will get the upper hand second time around?
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