Lyoto Machida and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson face off on Saturday at UFC 123 in Michigan with both men in need of a victory.
Brazilian looking to bounce back from first career loss against Rua
Lyoto Machida and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson face off on Saturday at UFC 123 in Michigan with both men in need of a victory.
The two former UFC light-heavyweight champions go into the main event off the back of disappointing defears in the 205lb division.
Machida lost his title to fellow Brazilian Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, while Jackson suffered a lopsided decision to bitter rival Rashad Evans in May.
For Machida the loss in a rematch with Rua was the very first of his mixed martial arts career since joining the UFC in 2007.
Pressure
"You win some and you lose some, and there was a lot of pressure on my back, as most of the fans had this aura of me being the undefeated champion," recalled Machida.
"I always knew I could lose like everyone else and knew that the day would one day come. I now feel I have learned a lot from that loss and it's taken some pressure off my back.
"There's pressure every time you step into a fight, though, regardless of whether you are undefeated or not, and Saturday will be no different.
"This is just a normal fight, with all the pressure that goes with it."
In contrast, Jackson has now been beaten in two of his past four bouts since conceding the light-heavyweight belt to Forrest Griffin in July 2008.
He turned in a lacklustre display against Evans in May but insists that was not down to his involvement with
'The A-Team' movie, in which he starred as B.A. Baracus.
"I know exactly the reason why I lost to Rashad that day," said Jackson. "I knew I lost that fight before I even stepped in the cage.
"The day I lost that fight was a couple of weeks before the fight even started, and it had nothing to do with The A-Team movie, the tour, or anything else going on at the time.
"Sometimes we fight even though we shouldn't fight.
Sometimes we should back out of fights. Because the fight was delayed and so well-promoted, I felt like it was my chance to fight no matter what the outcome was."
Engaging
Jackson hopes for more chances to engage with Machida in Detroit having struggled on the ground against Evans.
"I'd rather fight people who are going to put on a show like me," explained Quinton.
"I want to fight guys that are going to stand and bang.
I feel like those people are the true warriors and the true fighters. I like the way BJ Penn and Matt Hughes fight. I like watching guys like that fight. There are other guys in the UFC that do nothing for me, though.
"I want to fight fierce warriors and guys that think the same way I do. This is not like boxing, where guys are just trying to outpoint each other and then go for decisions.
We're MMA fighters and we're the best athletes in the world."
