UFC 129: Is Lyoto Machida Seriously Looking Past Randy Couture?

Fighters Only Magazine has reported that former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida wants a rematch with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Machida is currently scheduled to face 47-year-old veteran and former UFC champion Randy "The Natural" Couture.

Newcomers to the sport may hear 47 years old and think to themselves, "who is this Couture guy? Shouldn't he be collecting a pension?"

However, Couture is a different animal. He is still a dangerous opponent for anybody in the light heavyweight division, despite pushing 50 years of age.

Machida should be taking Couture every bit as seriously as he has his previous 10 opponents in the UFC.

However, the fact that Machida is calling out other guys before getting past Couture has to make one wonder whether he is really taking Couture as seriously as he should.

Of course, fighters will always have an idea of who they want next, but just a few weeks out from a fight, most fighters are strictly focused on the task at hand, and in Machida's case, that should be Couture.

"The former light heavyweight champion [Lyoto Machida] turned the conversation to the unanimous decision loss to Quinton Jackson late last year." wrote Eduardo Cruz of Fighters Only Magazine.

Judging by the interview, it appears as if Machida was the one that wanted to talk about the Jackson fight.

"...even Rampage himself recognized the loss at the end…" Machida told Fighters Only Magazine.

Machida feels as if he won the fight against Jackson, and that is why he wants the rematch. Lyoto feels the Jackson fight derailed his shot at the title and that a possible rematch is his road to the championship.

"I was sad about the loss, because I would have been the next in line after Rashad Evans, who got injured and couldn’t dispute the belt," Machida told the magazine.

Machida wanting to fight Jackson again in order to regain No. 1 contender status involves a lot of different things falling into place, and it starts with beating Couture.

First of all, Machida is 1-2 in his last three fights, and the win was a controversial decision victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, where he defended his light heavyweight title for the first and only time.

After the controversial decision, Machida was re-matched with Rua, who knocked him out in devastating fashion. After the loss to Rua, Machida came out on the losing end of a once-again controversial decision to Jackson.

Machida was a dominant force prior to facing Rua, going undefeated over a span of 16 fights, but since that first fight with the fellow Brazilian, Machida has looked average at best.

Machida's once-elusive style that had many fans describing him as the most cerebral fighter in the sport and others calling him boring for winning off of points has been exposed.

This writer was one of the people who bought into the "Machida" Karate style and Joe Rogan's short-lived catchphrase "The Machida Era", but it is hard to buy in now. 

Machida definitely still has the tools to taste UFC gold once again, even with Jon Jones at the top of the heap right now, but he needs to concentrate on getting back on the winning track.

Thinking about opponents after beating an opponent that he hasn't fought yet definitely isn't the mindset Machida should have in the weeks building up to a fight with Couture.

Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey.

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