Rumors are now swirling that a planned light heavyweight bout between Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 on May 24 is now off following a recent interview by Renato "Babalu" Sobral on PunchDrunkGamer.com in which Sobral is quoted as saying:

PDG:  Last time we talked you said that Lyoto Machida would be the UFC 205lb Champion someday.  What do you think of his rumored upcoming match with Tito Ortiz?

Babalu:  I heard that Tito is not going to fight him anymore, so they are going to have to find another opponent for Machida.  I got the news a couple of days ago that he was fighting someone else.

PDG:  It didn’t really seem like Tito wanted that fight.

Babalu:  I don’t know about Tito man……he is a celebrity.  He makes a lot of money outside of fighting so I don’t know if he really wants to fight.

Sobral's comments are hardly official, however, knowing Ortiz's history would it be all that surprising that the fight is off? 

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Sam Caplan

Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

SamCaplan.ProElite.com