A fight between onetime middleweight challenger Chael Sonnen (25-11-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) and former light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida (17-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) is not happening.
Sources close to the promotion today told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that the fight was briefly entertained but did not become a reality after being heavily rumored for the fall, possibly at UFC 136.
Both fighters currently are awaiting their next bookings, the sources said.
Sonnen was freed to fight exactly one week ago after serving a suspension handed down this past May by the California State Athletic Commission. The commission issued an indefinite suspension after determining that the fighter had given inconsistent statements about his testosterone-replacement therapy this past December in an appeal of a one-year suspension issued in the wake of his UFC 117 loss to Anderson Silva (which was later halved to six months). The commission also cited his conviction earlier this year on one felony charge of money laundering when handing down the suspension.
According to CSAC Executive Director George Dodd, Sonnen must appear before the commission if he wants to be licensed again. If he chooses to do so, the commission is likely to ask him to show rehabilitation from his previous misdeeds.
Machida, meanwhile, is two months removed from a triumphant win over Randy Couture at UFC 129. In a highlight-reel performance, he stopped Couture with a leaping front kick that knocked the UFC Hall of Famer silly (and dislodged a few of Couture's teeth).
It was the second such kick seen in the octagon since Machida teammate Anderson Silva, the UFC's reigning middleweight champion, knocked out Vitor Belfort with the strike at UFC 126. Like Silva, Machida thanked aging martial-arts movie star Steven Seagal for his tutelage on the technique, which earned him a "Knockout of the Night" bonus at the gate-buster event.
The win also reversed a slide for Machida following losses to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua – which robbed him of his title – and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
