UFC 123: Steven Seagal Trains Lyoto Machida For Rampage Jackson

Machida feels like the UFC 123 main event provides an exciting dynamic.

“It’s a great matchup of styles,” he said. “Rampage is known to be aggressive, and I like to stand up. Put those two styles together — it’s a good match.”

That both fighters are coming off high-profile losses makes the match even more important. In April at UFC 113, Machida dropped the light heavyweight title to Mauricio (Shogun) Rua in Montreal. One month later at UFC 114 in Las Vegas, Jackson lost to bitter rival Rashad Evans in a match that determined the first challenger for Rua. Those two are expected to meet in early-2010 once Rua has recovered from knee surgery.