I read a reply in a different post where it was suggested that Machida should go down a weight-class. The suggestion was, as should be, not taken very kindly by most other BloodyElbowers and I must admit that I chuckled somewhat when I read about it. But... then I thought about it some more...If Machida wins against Shogun, the disussion is moot. He is then the reigning LHW-champ and will likely remain so for quite some time. But if Machida loses he is stuck in limbo.

The logical challengers to Shogun would be Rashad Evans (if he wins against Thiago SIlva), Little Nog (if he beats Cane). Rampage is out and Tito Ortiz would need a couple of wins before he can be passed off as a challenger.

However. The most likely challenger of them all would be Anderson Silva. Shogun would have beaten the "pupil", time for the master to step forward. Anderson wouldn`t fight for the title since it was MAchida`s, but if MAchida is out, Anderson Silva would probably step in.

Machida could in the meantime drop down to middleweight, which he probably could do tomorrow and would soon be fighting for and very likely winning the middleweight title that Anderson Silva would vacate as soon as he had won the LHW-title. As soon as Anderson Silva lost the LHW-title, or retired, Machida could once again move back up a weight-class.

All this depends of course on a lot of "if"s and "maybe"s but if:

a) Shogun beats Machida in the rematch

b) Anderson SIlva gets the next title-shot (not unlikely)

c) Anderson Silva beats Shogun and then vacates the MW-title.

...Machida may drop down to MW.

I actually think that some of Anderson`s posturing regarding the Shogun-Machida fight is partly to put himself in the limelight and position himself where he can legitimately challenge Shogun.

That being said, I will still be rooting for Machida on January 2.