Lyoto Machida changes tune; willing to fight Alexander Gustafsson with Jon Jones injured

My, how a broken toe can change a fighter's perspective.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion was content waiting around for a title shot as long as he was going to get it following Jon Jones' most recent defense against Chael Sonnen this past weekend, but with Jones sidelined indefinitely after gruesomely breaking his toe during the fight, the title fight likely wouldn't be happening for a while.

Thus, when asked about whether he'd be willing to wait for Jones, Machida surprised many by completely changing his stance on a new number one contender fight with Alexander Gustafsson. It was less than two weeks ago that his management team said a fight against Gustafsson "doesn't make sense," but he now tells Ariel Helwani that he's interested in the bout.

Here's exactly what "The Dragon" had to say when asked about a potential fight with Gustafsson now that Jones is on the shelf:

"I am interest for this fight because now I think it is a good idea to put Gustafsson against me. He's the number two contender. I'm the number one contender. Let's gonna see what happen."

Gustafsson, of course, is ready to go whenever a fight can be booked for him after the unfortunate cut incident left him on the outside looking in at the UFC on Fuel TV 7 main event in Sweden just a few short weeks ago. When asked when he'd like a potential fight against Gustafsson to take place, Machida replied simply:

"As soon as possible."

Do you like the sound of this fight, Maniacs?