“I want nothing to do with that guy [Lyoto Machida]. Not at all. He’s a tough fighter and I’d like to fight a lot of other guys first. There are really about 20 guys who have impressed me — it’s a stacked division, that’s for sure. You’ve got undefeated guys like Rashad Evans, Chuck Liddell can knock anybody out with either hand, and then you’ve got Quinton, Wanderlei, even Wilson Gouveia and Jason Lambert — there are so many guys who are still at the top. Then there’s Thiago Silva, who beat Houston Alexander, Keith Jardine could make a comeback and Stephan Bonnar will be healthy soon.”

– Forrest Griffin tells The Sun that Lyoto Machida is not on the top of his list of opponents who he would look forward to fighting anytime soon. “The Dragon” is undefeated and has five wins inside the Octagon against fighters such as Tito Ortiz, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, David Heath and others. Brandon Vera also turned down a fight with Machida because he didn’t feel like he had enough time to prepare for his tricky fighting style that no one appears to be able to figure out. The interesting thing here is that Griffin and Machida were booked to fight at UFC 70: “Nations Collide” last year; however, Griffin had to withdraw from the fight because of a staph infection. If Griffin can get passed Quinton “Rampage” Jackson this weekend he may have no other choice but to go to battle against the Brazilian.”

http://mmamania.com/2008/07/01/ufc-quick-quote-forrest-griffin-wants-nothing-to-do-with-lyoto-machida/