If manager Jorge Guimaraes gets his way, Lyoto Machida will return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship to settle some unfinished business with Mauricio Rua.
Guimaraes revealed to Sherdog.com that he is in the process of negotiating with the Las Vegas-based promotion to bring Machida back to the Octagon for a trilogy bout against “Shogun” at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro.
“When I heard ‘Shogun was doing his last fight at UFC Rio, I immediately called (UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell) offering Lyoto for a trilogy,” Guimaraes said. “Hunter told me they initially were planning on someone like Tyson Pedro to fight Shogun, but he liked the idea and told me he was going to talk to Dana [White] about it.
“I have no doubt the Brazilian audience would love that match up. Two champions, two legends of the sport, one win for each, doing their rubber match on the night of both of their retirement fights. Shogun is already a Hall of Famer, Lyoto also deserves that.”
Machida and Rua initially fought at UFC 104, with “The Dragon” retaining his light heavyweight belt with a unanimous decision triumph on Oct. 24, 2009. Rua got revenge in the rematch, knocking out Machida in the opening round at UFC 113 on May 8, 2010.
Machida completed his Bellator contract this past May, when he suffered a first-round KO loss to Fabian Edwards at Bellator 281.
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