Lyoto Machida is ready and willing to step in against Jon “Bones” Jones

Following this past Saturday’s UFC 130 in Las Vegas, Nevada, UFC President Dana White revealed during an interview with Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com that former division champ Lyoto Machida could be next in line to face Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones should “Rampage” Jackson be unable to compete.

“I don’t know, we got to see what’s wrong with (Jackson),” White said.  “He’s talking about his hands. We got to get his hands looked at.  I’m not going to let the guy fight if he’s got bad hands.”

When asked if this would open the door for Machida to challenge for the title, White simply replied. “Yeah.”

Machida is fresh off an impressive second-round knockout victory over  Randy Couture at last month’s UFC 129.  Prior to the win, the Brazilian had lost two-straight, first against Mauricio Rua to lose the belt and a second via controversial split decision to Jackson.  Now back in the win column, it appears “The Dragon” is more than willing to step in against the newly crowned champ.

“I’m ready. I’m already moving to another training part, and I’d be ready to fight in 12 weeks.”  Machida tells Tatame.com.  “There’s nothing yet, but it’s a great chance for me. I don’t want to create hopes, I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but if they do it, I’ll get this big opportunity to restart my walk in the UFC”.

 “We know Jones is a great champion, he showed why (against Shogun), but everybody has strong and weak points. I haven’t studied Jones’ game yet because he was never ‘my problem’, but I already saw him fighting.”

While nothing has been confirmed at this time, Jackson revealed during the post-fight press conference last weekend that he went into the Matt Hamill fight suffering from a fractured hand.  With Jones’ initial opponent, Rashad Evans, now lined-up to fight Phil Davis in the main event at UFC 133, and the champ looking to return this Fall, Machida could quite possibly be the 23-year-old’s first challenger.  So what do you think LowKick’ers?  Should “The Dragon” be next in line if “Rampage” is unable to compete?

Photo: UFC fighter Lyoto Machida at the Black House gym in Gardena, California on October 20, 2009. Francis Specker