Ed Soares Would Like an Interim Title Fight for Machida

Ed Soares did what we all like to do on MMA Junkie Radio, pretend to be Joe Silva:

"Honestly, we'd like to fight 'Shogun,'" Machida's manager, Ed Soares, today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "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."

First of all, didn't Lyoto win a narrow decision and Shogun won decisively? Second, is this incident of selective memory an indicator that Ed Soares has been in the manager business too long? Has he taken too many shots to the head over the negotiating table? Perhaps he should retire...

Anywho back to the issue at hand -- the interim title.

MMA Payout thinks the UFC should stay the fuck away stop diluting championships with interim titles.

That's a pleasant thought as the interim titles are basically #1 contender bouts where the winner gets a prize. It's basically a kiddie soccer tournament where everyone gets a trophy. The problem is people are dumb and if they hear *whisper* interim *yell* CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT then more of them tune in.

In all likelihood the UFC is going to have an interim light heavyweight title fight. It will bridge the gap between now and March (when Shogun is expected to return) as a possible main event for a fall pay-per view.

The question is who will it be? Machida just got his face broken and the chatter points to Rashad being fine with waiting for Shogun and playing commentator. Rampage just loss and has international movie stuff (it's rumored he turned down a fight with Machida) and Rogerio had a lackluster performance at 114. Forrest Griffin is an X-factor and Jon Jones is a potential dark horse candidate but WKR has a feeling that Randy Couture could get a crack at a potential interim title.