With Quinton “Rampage” Jackson announced to face Lyoto Machida in Michigan at UFC 123 in November, some analysis about this intriguing match-up in order.

The two fighters are both coming off of some big losses. Machida lost his title to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and Rampage is coming off of a big loss to his archrival Rashad Evans. This puts Machida at 2nd place in the IWMMAR Light Heavyweight Rankings and Rampage in 4th. But there’s more to this match-up than stats, so let’s take a close look.

Machida didn’t just lose his Light Heavyweight belt when he was defeated by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. He also lost his untarnished record. The fight was an immediate rematch to a very controversial decision over Rua in their first bout. It wasn’t just Machida’s championship that was lost. Many felt that Rua actually figured out the secret to overcoming his elusive fighting style through the targeted use of traditional Muay Thai.

Rampage could theoretically capitalize on this. He does have a couple kickboxing fights under his belt, though it’s been eight years. Having a better game plan might help Rampage with this bout, though he already faced Rua in 2005 and lost due to soccer kicks in the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final in 2005. Machida has also lost the aura of invincibility afforded to him by an undefeated record, and Rampage has the opportunity to take advantage of that.

On the other hand, Rampage did not look so good in his last bout against Rashad Evans. This was his first bout that he had after writing on his blog that he was done fighting in September ’09, though he changed his mind that December. Rampage has never lost two fights in a row, though, so although he seems to be having difficulty as of late it’s always possible that he could come back strong. And although he claimed pre-fight that he was training hard and not focusing on Hollywood, he quickly changed his tune after losing. How he’s training now is obviously a big factor.

Mindset is another issue. It’s difficult to determine if Rampage’s heart is still in fighting. How Machida’s loss affected him is another factor. And It’s hard to say if Machida is in Rampage’s head since their last fight was way back in 2005. However, Machida’s fighting style is incredibly elusive. If Rampage’s game plan is to simply knock him out, he might get frustrated by Machida’s weaving in and out, with his head just out of reach of punches and his devastating counter-striking.