• UFC 133

Angry Dana White fumes at greedy Machida

Lyoto Machida demanded the same money as Anderson Silva to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 133 © Getty Images

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Lyoto Machida could be facing an uncertain future after UFC president Dana White revealed the Brazilian initially agreed to fight Rashad Evans, only to then go back on his word after demanding more money.

White was facing the prospect of losing his main event for the second time in three events, after Phil Davis had to pull out of UFC 133 with a knee injury. The withdrawal comes within a month of UFC Live, which saw Nate Marquardt pulled from the card against Rick Story.

Tito Ortiz has helped rescue the August 6 event in Philadelphia, but only after Machida broke his previously-clean relationship with White. According to the president, Machida accepted the fight, only to then demand the same money as Anderson Silva.

"Machida accepted the fight," White told MMAjunkie. "We knew for a couple days this was going down, and Machida accepted the fight.

"Then when we called back and said, 'OK, we're going to make this fight,' Machida's people came back and said, 'We'll tell you what. You pay us what you pay Anderson Silva, and we'll take the fight.' This was after they had already agreed to take the fight.

"I said, 'Are you f***ing kidding me? I'll tell you what. You tell Machida he achieves what f***ing Anderson Silva has achieved, then maybe he'll make Anderson Silva money. Have a nice day.'"

Elaborating on Ortiz's U-turn, which saw the former champion reject the fight before later accepting, White was full of praise for a man he has had countless fallouts with over the years.

"Tito turned it down, and then Tito called back and said, 'Did you get the fight yet?'. I said, 'Nope.' He goes, 'Let me think about it. Let me talk to my team, and I'll call you back tomorrow.' This was Tuesday night."

Asked if Ortiz could earn a title shot with victory, White replied: "F***ing right, he gets a break. Tito stepped up to the plate. It's f***ing weird here. It's like I'm dealing with a new person. I like it. I like the new Tito.

"The storyline is what's so interesting. Tito went from 'You're about to be cut,' to now, if he beats Rashad Evans, he's back in the mix. He's back in the picture."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.