UFC 140: Is Lyoto Machida Sick Heading into Title Clash with Jon Jones?

Lyoto Machida just stepped off the scales a few minutes ago, and nothing looked abnormal. Jon Jones looked his usual fit self and there seemed to be no issues.

There's a rumor going around from Sherdog's Jordan Breen that Machida is battling a cold, flu, pneumonia or some other condition of that nature. Breen mentioned it in his pre-event chatroom and it was picked up by BloodyElbow. Here's Breen's quote from his chat.

At this point it's nothing more than speculation, and Machida is normally a reserved individual, so fans shouldn't read anything into him straying away from the media.

Machida doesn't use an overly aggressive style so if he is in fact battling a sickness, it may not impact his fight tomorrow as much as it would someone else.

With that being said, we've seen how being sick can drastically alter a fighter's ability inside the Octagon, with a recent example of Roy Nelson battling his condition in his bout with Frank Mir at UFC 130.

If Machida loses, I don't believe we will hear anything about being sick, as Machida is never one to make any excuses for a loss. And it will likely be used as anti-Jones material should the Brazilian win.

Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 140. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the December 10 fight card, from pre-fight predictions to in-fight coverage, results and post-fight analysis.