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- UFC OFFERS LYOTO FIGHT WITH TITO ORTIZ
Saturday, January 05, 2008 - by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com
Ed Soares, the manager for Lyoto Machida, has confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that Ultimate Fighting Championship officials have offered the Brazilian a fight against former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
According to Soares, Machida has accepted the fight and at this point, they are waiting to find out if Ortiz will accept the bout.
“It would be an honor to fight such a legend as Tito Ortiz,” said Machida. “I would like to see how my technique matches up against his.”
Machida is coming off of, quite possibly, the most impressive victory of his career. He submitted highly touted Pride veteran Sokoudjou at UFC 79 just 4:20 into the second round. The win kept him undefeated and improved his professional record to 12-0 (including four victories in the UFC).
A win over a veteran fighter like Ortiz would seemingly put him a fight or two away from a title shot.
Ortiz – who can be seen on the popular NBC television series “The Celebrity Apprentice” – was last seen in the Octagon in a draw with Greg Jackson-trained fighter Rashad Evans at UFC 73 in July of 2007. He is reportedly on the last fight of his current UFC contract.
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