Former UFC light heavy weight champ Lyoto Machida is aiming to make a comeback after his knock out lost to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in May. Usually when a fighter suffers a devastating loss, especially if they just lost the title, they get thrown an easy opponent. Not so with Machida, “The Dragon” wants a chance at an interim title against Rashad Evans who will fight Shogun in Spring after he heals up from knee surgery. Machida’s manager Ed Soares told MMAJunkie, “Honestly, we’d like to fight ‘Shogun, Now it’s 1-1. It’s even. Let’s do this rubber match. Let’s figure this out. Granted, he won by decision and Lyoto won decisively, but anyone can get caught in this sport. He went in for the kill, and unfortunately, he got caught.”

“Since ‘Shogun’ is out – they’re saying until March – personally, when there’s an injured champion, I would love to see maybe a Rashad-Lyoto match for the interim title. I think that would be something that would be cool, and the winner of that would get to fight ‘Shogun’ when he’s all healed up in the spring of next year.”

Althought the UFC said there will not be an interim light heavy weight title, it definitely isn’t out of the realm of possibility. When heavy weight champ Brock Lesnar was sidelined with illness an interim title was put in place. Reports of Shogun’s recovery have said he is recovering well, so an interim title may not be necessary unless we hear otherwise on Shoguns condition. Machida is currently training in the U.S. at Black House along with teammate Anderson Silva, who has a fight with Chael Sonnen coming up at UFC 117. Machida talked about his training here in the U.S., “I came here to the States to train a lot more wrestling, and of course to spend a lot more time training with Anderson. I think he’s good training for me, especially for my upcoming opponent, whoever that may be. But I’m healed. I’m ready to go, and I’m ready to get back in there and fight as soon as they give me someone.”

It sounds like Machida is ready to step back in the octagon and has stepped up is already intense training routine a notch or two. Rashad Evans next bout will most likely be with Shogun, but Evans said he would fight for an interim title if the opportunity presented itself. Evans said, “At this point, unless they come up with an interim title, then I’ll wait.” We he jump at the chance to fight the only person who beat him in the cage and who also took his title?

What about Lyoto Machida? Is he ready to comeback and fight again? Soares said in the same interview, “One of the coolest things [Machida] told me after the fight (with Rua) was he really, truly feels like a complete fighter now,” Soares said. “He knows what it feels like to win. He knows what it’s like to be a champ, and now he knows what’s it’s like to lose. It’s going to make him a better fighter – a better person.” It’s good to know Machida isn’t dwelling on his first loss and losing his title, just like GSP, a loss may be a new beginning for The Dragon.

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