UFC 123: Machida vs "Rampage" Jackson

[Rappy Veteran]

UFC 123 is headed to Auburn Hills, Michigan.

That's the word from UFC president Dana White, who told MMA Fighting that the finalization of a deal to bring the Nov. 20 event to The Palace of Auburn Hills in the Detroit suburb closed on Wednesday morning.

The main event features a battle between former UFC light-heavyweight champions Lyoto Machida and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Jackson (30-8) is fresh off his UFC 114 decision loss at the hands of Rashad Evans, while Machida (16-1) hopes to rebound from his first career defeat, which took place in May when Mauricio "Shogun" Rua knocked him out to capture the 205-pound title.

The event will mark the first UFC show held in Michigan since UFC 9 in May 1996. That show is historically notable for being the first UFC event that didn't take place using a tournament format.

With the arena and main event in place, the UFC will quickly move to build the rest of the card.

The Nov. 20 event is just one during an ambitious 31-day stretch for UFC and WEC parent company Zuffa, which will be holding five events in three different countries during that time.

[rajputwarrior]

rampage = loser

i love him and all, but i love his personality more then his fighting abilities.

[Yorak]

Rampage is a bitch. He is going down.

[Lovell]

Rampage loses to Rashad so they give him an even harder fight :blink: he should try fighting a few of the lower tier fighters as a warm up, instead he's going to be destroyed by Lyoto then again 2 losses in a row will help Dana when Rampages contract comes up; unless Dana is still bitter about Rampage choosing the A team over the UFC in which case bye bye Rampage.

[rajputwarrior]

Rampage loses to Rashad so they give him an even harder fight :blink: he should try fighting a few of the lower tier fighters as a warm up, instead he's going to be destroyed by Lyoto then again 2 losses in a row will help Dana when Rampages contract comes up; unless Dana is still bitter about Rampage choosing the A team over the UFC in which case bye bye Rampage.

this i would not doubt. he was in awesome in the movie though

[TheElite]

unless Dana is still bitter about Rampage choosing the A team over the UFC in which case bye bye Rampage.

Dana isn't bitter anymore. He said himself that doing the movie was a good thing for Rampage.

As much as I like Rampage, I don't think he'll be able to beat Machida.

[+StevoFC MVC]

I don't care much about either fighter. But for some reason I'd like to see Rampage knock out Machida.

[nubs]

Machida is going to make Quinton look foolish. Quinton is too slow to land anything of consequence against the elusive Lyoto.

[D. S. Veteran]

Rampage doesn't have the technical skills to beat Lyoto. And Lyoto has the striking power to beat Rampage.

[nubs]

Yeah if Lyoto can knock Rashad out, he can knock Jackson out too.

[Rappy Veteran]

With another lightweight title shot not on the horizon, B.J. Penn (15-7-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC) will return to the welterweight division to complete a trilogy of fights with Matt Hughes (45-7 MMA, 18-5 UFC).

The fight takes place in November at UFC 123 and could serve as the night's co-main event, a source close to the negotiations told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Hughes first hinted at the matchup in a Tuesday blog post, which prompted reports of the Penn booking.

UFC 123 takes place Nov. 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit. A light-heavyweight bout between former champs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida headlines the pay-per-view portion of the show.

Penn and Hughes, of course, have met twice before. Penn won the first meeting via submission at UFC 46, but Hughes got his revenge at UFC 63 and scored a third-round TKO. Hughes lost his long-held welterweight belt for the first time with the UFC 46 loss. Prior to UFC 63, he reclaimed the title with a win over Georges St-Pierre and successfully defended it with the Penn victory.

Hughes, who was once on the verge of retirement in recent years, has found new life in the UFC's loaded welterweight division. After a 1-3 skid that saw him lose his belt and a vacant interim title, the recent UFC Hall of Fame inductee has rebounded with consecutive wins over Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida.

Penn, meanwhile, looks to gain some traction at 170 pounds following his quick descent at lightweight. Once the world's universal No. 1 ranked 155-pounder, Penn lost his belt to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112 and then suffered another decision loss to "The Answer" at UFC 118 in an August rematch. Perhaps surprisingly, Penn hasn't fared well at 170 pounds and owns a career 1-3 mark in the division.

For additional coverage of UFC 123, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

[Colin.B]

I really feel that throwing Machida at Rampage is too soon. Rampage did have a case of "ring rust" against Rashad and he needs time to get back to full form if he's going to pull off a win with Machida. Rampage bringing his best game would still have a hell of a fight against Lyoto. I do feel calling Rampage a "bitch" is a bit of a stretch and I'd love to see him win this one but I just can't help but feel it will end in Machida's arm being raised. I will say, I'd be more interested in a Rashad Evans/Rampage Jackson rematch than I would be a Machida Vs Rua III or a Evans Vs Machida fight....So long as it was top form Rampage we saw in the octagon.

[Kriz]

Talk about throwing Rampage in at the deep end, both fighters are coming off a loss and as much as i like Rampage i can see Machida coming in with a point to prove and beating him.

[mikebiacsi]

Talk about throwing Rampage in at the deep end, both fighters are coming off a loss and as much as i like Rampage i can see Machida coming in with a point to prove and beating him.

I agree, as much as I like Rampage I can't see him beating Machida.

[Rappy Veteran]

[Rappy Veteran]

tonight! :D

[Kriz]

Cant wait :D

[Lovell]

Machida, BJ Penn, Nik Lentz, Joe Lauzon, Phil Davis, and Gerald Harris to win :D I'd say Paul Kelly but every time I pick a Brit to win they lose :blink:

[Kriz]

Rampage isnt looking as ripped and big as he usually is..

Phil Davies on the other hand :|

That looks so wrong

[Rappy Veteran]

Phil Davies on the other hand :|

That looks so wrong

lolwat :|

[arrrgh]

Apparently Machida agreed that Rampage was not much of a challenge and decided to make things more difficult for himself..

[Kriz]

You know you're going downhill when taking tips from Steven Segal :|

[Kriz]

Pre-lims live in 45 mins :D

[Rappy Veteran]

WHAT THE **** @ BJ FIGHT :|

[Peter Griffin]

WHAT THE **** @ BJ FIGHT :|

Haha, very anticlimactic......what was that, 20 seconds?