The fruits of one's labor

Lyoto Machida is one scary, scary dude. Should be a lot of fun watching him take on "Rampage" Jackson later this year. There are rumors swirling about him and Jackson taking opposing sides as coaches on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. I have mixed emotions about this. The positive in doing this is that it would give Machida even more exposure to American fans, perhaps even moreso to casual fans who may be checking the show out. It's hard to believe that a lot of hardcore fans still watch TUF because of the antics within the house, the fact that it's the same boring format every season, and quite frankly, the fighters are decent at best. But for a casual or new fan to the sport, it's a solid way to become introduce to MMA and UFC, and also gives them exposure to some of the sports stars who are serving as coaches.

However, I'm weary of Jackson and Machida being coaches on this show for a couple reasons. First and foremost is that show starts filming in the first week of June. It wouldn't start airing until September and thus Jackson and Machida would not square off for "The Dragon's" belt until the end of the year, most likely headlining the final card of 2009. Secondly, Jackson has already served as a coach on the show against Forrest Griffin. Admittedly, Jackson said he didn't really enjoy it and that he got extremely overweight being on the show. Obviously it could serve as a nice PR move to continue rebuilding his reputation with fans after his meltdown following the loss of his title to Griffin, but I'm skeptical. I want to see the best Rampage take on Machida because it could make for an all-time classic matchup. Rampage has terrific standup with his boxing skillset and his defense, and he also brings great wrestling and tremendous ground and pound to the table. I honestly don't know if he has the tools to take out Machida - he is one dangerous BAMF - but it could make for an exciting fight. Rampage always brings the fight, and it would be interesting to see Machida karate take on such an aggressive, yet calculated and disciplined style of boxing and wrestling. Dana White's announcement comes on June 2nd, so we'll just have to wait and see, but with every other title currently scheduled for upcoming matchups, all signs point to it happened. Unless they're bringing Tito and Ken Shamrock back for another grudge match.

-Bess