ESPN Confirms that Rampage is next in line at 205, not Machida!
 

During the live weigh-in's on ESPN yesterday they announced that whether he wins or not, Lyoto Machida is not the #1 contender at 205. They spoke with Dana White who said that Rampage is the #1 contender for LHW.

They also said that should BJ win, he will have the choice of which belt to defend first. Kenny is the #1 contender at LW and Alves is #1 at WW.

Wow, good find, I didn't see that yesterday. I wonder what Machida will have to do to get a shot. And nobody say "stop being boring" - even if, like me, you don't find his style terribly entertaining, one of the things I (used to) like about the UFC was unlike boxing, the #1 contender was determined through competition, not popularity. Machida deserves first crack at Rashad if he wins tonight (and this coming from a Rampage fan)

so do you think that should Lyoto get KO'd that Silva should get the shot???

Yeah (not that it will happpen) or at least fight Rampage for the spot.
They mentioned that Lyoto doesn't draw a crowd the way that Rampage does. I think the whole reasoning behind the Tito fight was to build up Machida's popularity.

Oooooo BJ has a choice to make after he beats GSP tonight. I would love to see him destroy Alves first, then wreck Florian's dreams !

I think that as well...As much as Dana hates the boxing system hes doing the samething whatever sells ppv...:Whistle:

alves would kill BJ but BJ would kill Florian. Iam not evan an alves fan but GSP will have a hard time beating him

you have to understand it though!!!!

He is running a business, and to sell ppv you need to draw in a crowd, excite the fans, lyoto does what he does well, shuts down other fighters. but lets face it what would you rather watch, a fighter that wins but puts you to sleep because unless you are a karate guru and appreciate the methodical nature of the dragon (with coming from a karate background i sort of do - however the average fan is not) he is not interesting to watch, or someone that my not always win but the fights are high paced, constant action.

from a selling point of view, lyoto as champ doesnt fit, its more profitable having guida on the card who is 4-3 in the ufc than it is to have lyoto who is 5-0. simply as lyoto has one finish in 5 all the rest decisions and not exciting fights aside from the souk one which i was impressed with lyoto.

although guiada has gine 4 decisions and 3 finishes, even the decisions have been excing with some controversy to them as well.

i know we are talking different weight classes, but you could say the same thing for at least one fighter on each class, except maybe hw

sorry but no - alves would be bj breakfast, get him on the ground and that leg kick of alves is useless. bj wins that 1st round by rnc.

the florian result i agree with.

GSP would out box, out wrestle and out class alves, look at how he owned kos, alves beat him, but did not look good doing it, i dont think alves beats fitch

I agree for the most part with the gsp part but I think on there feet it would be alot closer than you think. I still think gsp would win in both fights I just think alves is a harder fight