While mutual respect appears to be the story heading into Saturday's UFC 123 co-headliner between B.J. Penn and Matt Hughes, tensions ran high as Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida weighed in for their main-event clash.
After both made the 205-pound weight limit, Jackson and Machida came face to face for the customary pre-fight staredown. However, Machida put his fist up in Jackson's face, which instantly angered the fighter appropriately nicknamed "Rampage."
Before a wild shoving match ensued, UFC president Dana White broke the two combatants up. The hostility seemingly died down shortly thereafter as Jackson was seen exchanging friendly words with Machida's manager Ed Soares.
"Machida is a respectful guy," said Jackson. "He has a great style, but I come here to excite the crowd, so I’m gonna show my love for ya’all tomorrow.”
Despite being labelled as a boring fighter leading into this bout, Machida promised to do the same.
"The pressure always exists regardless of the fight and I’m very prepared to put on a great show tomorrow night,” the Brazilian said.
Meanwhile, the former two-division champion Penn weighed in at 169 pounds, one pound under the welterweight limit. The Hawaiian respectfully embraced Hughes, who tipped the scales at 170, as they posed for photographers.
All other fighters weighed in without incident and Saturday's event at the Palace of Auburn Hills has been green-lit.
Below are the full weigh-in results for UFC 123:
Main bouts (on pay-per-view):
Lyoto Machida (205) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (205)
B.J. Penn (169) vs. Matt Hughes (169)
Gerald Harris (185) vs. Maiquel Falcao (185)
Phil Davis (205) vs. Tim Boetsch (205)
George Sotiropoulos (15) vs. Joe Lauzon (155)
Preliminary bouts (on Spike TV):
Brian Foster (170) vs. Matt Brown (170)
Mark Munoz (185) vs. Aaron Simpson (185.5)
Preliminary Bouts (non-televised):
Karo Parisyan (170) vs. Dennis Hallman (170)
Mike Lullo (155) vs. Edson Barboza (155)
Paul Kelly (155) vs. T.J. O’Brien (155)
Nik Lentz (155) vs. Tyson Griffin (155)
