Dana White Has Offered Nick Diaz A Fight With Lyoto Machida

With so much talk about Machida’s last result against Davis, many of us have overlooked the fact that his next fight is likely to be in a different weight class. The #2 Light-Heavyweight is now being linked to a scrap with Nick Diaz, according to Dana White:

“I talked to Diaz today, and I made him an offer, so we’ll see what happens,” White reportedly said during a question-and-answer session in Boston for The Shawn Thornton Foundation
“He had been talking about going to 185 pounds. Machida has been talking about going to 185 pounds. So we wanted to see if he wanted to fight Machida at 185.”

Not only has Machida been linked to a scrap with Vitor Belfort, it seems that a potential fight with Diaz is on the cards. I have to say that I like the idea of that fight. Not only that, Machida’s style might even be more effective a 185lbs.

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Diaz has been inactive since his UFC 158 loss to Georges St-Pierre, and I can’t say I’d back him in a fight against Machida. The Dragon is far too elusive for Diaz’s plodding style.

If Condit could outmaneuver Diaz, Machida would run rings around him. One thing we might see from Machida at a lighter weight is more output, more offensive strikes. I would like to see that because Machida has some of the best footwork in the game, if only his hands could keep up. The problem there is that Machida has a strong Karate base, which means he is primarily a counter striker. This can often lead to snoozefests, or razor tight decisions.

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Out of Diaz vs. Machida or Belfort vs. Machida, I don’t know which I’d like to see more. Maybe give the winner of Machida vs. Diaz to Belfort, or visa versa?

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