<a href="/sports/mixed-martial-arts/fightin-words-1.811935?tags=lyoto+machida">Lyoto Machida</a> weighed in Friday at 201 pounds, a 2-liter bottle below the 206-pound limit for a light heavyweight fight. 
 That set off a line of questioning about Machida possibly dropping to middleweight (185 pounds) one day. 
 Machida left that door open whenever he was asked publicly about it. 
 “I want this fight to go into the title fight at 205, but maybe in the future. Who knows?," Machida said on Fuel TV's post-fight show Saturday after <a href="/sports/mixed-martial-arts/rua-machida-post-big-ufc-wins-in-fox-show-1.3883245">beating Ryan Bader</a> and earning the next light heavyweight title shot. "I can drop my weight to 185, it’s easy for me. But, I never tried. I always walk around at 205-210, but this time I had a great camp and I lost a lot of weight. That is why I drank water before the scale.” 
 Machida at any weight class presents intriguing possibilties, but here are two simple reasons why his dropping to 185 pounds won't happen any time soon: 
 1) His next fight is a title fight 
 Machida fights against either current light heavyweight champion <a href="/sports/mixed-martial-arts/fightin-words-1.811935?tags=jon+jones">Jon Jones</a> or current challenger <a href="/sports/mixed-martial-arts/fightin-words-1.811935?tags=dan+henderson">Dan Henderson</a>. If he wins, well, guess what -- he's the champ and he's not moving until he's moved out of the champion's throne. 
 2) Anderson Silva remains the middleweight champion. 
 <a href="/sports/mixed-martial-arts/fightin-words-1.811935?tags=anderson+silva">Anderson Silva</a> and Machida are teammates and close friends. When Machida was champ at 205, people pushed for Silva to move up and fight him. Silva pushed back. Guess who won. No chance Machida moves down until Silva retires. Should Silva lose his title before that, it would be fairly certain that whoever beats him would have an immediate rematch.

Lyoto Machida weighed in Friday at 201 pounds, a 2-liter bottle below the 206-pound limit for a light heavyweight fight. That set off a line of questioning about Machida possibly dropping to middleweight (185 pounds) one day. Machida left that door open whenever he was asked publicly about it. “I want this fight to go into the title fight at 205, but maybe in the future. Who knows?," Machida said on Fuel TV's post-fight show Saturday after beating Ryan Bader and earning the next light heavyweight title shot. "I can drop my weight to 185, it’s easy for me. But, I never tried. I always walk around at 205-210, but this time I had a great camp and I lost a lot of weight. That is why I drank water before the scale.” Machida at any weight class presents intriguing possibilties, but here are two simple reasons why his dropping to 185 pounds won't happen any time soon: 1) His next fight is a title fight Machida fights against either current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones or current challenger Dan Henderson. If he wins, well, guess what -- he's the champ and he's not moving until he's moved out of the champion's throne. 2) Anderson Silva remains the middleweight champion. Anderson Silva and Machida are teammates and close friends. When Machida was champ at 205, people pushed for Silva to move up and fight him. Silva pushed back. Guess who won. No chance Machida moves down until Silva retires. Should Silva lose his title before that, it would be fairly certain that whoever beats him would have an immediate rematch.

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