A Quick Word On Shogun Rua
I’ve said my piece on Chuck Liddell and Anderson Silva in the wake of UFC 97, but have yet to discuss the counterpart in Saturday nights co-main event who absolutely deserves a mention. That person is Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the man who literally knocked Chuck Liddell into retirement at the Bell Centre last weekend.
Some folk, not all, but some have already jumped back on the Shogun train now that the former PRIDE terror has shown a flash of his former self. While Rua deserves all the credit in the world for his TKO victory, I can hardly concede at this time that the man is officially “back”. Maybe its just me, but I find it difficult to shake the awful memory of UFC 93 (Rua vs. Coleman II) that easily.
Had Shogun maintained a solid pace for at least another round in his featured bout with Liddell, I’d be more inclined to declare that the Mauricio of old had indeed returned. But four and a half minutes is just not sufficient in terms of testing an elite fighters cardio- which has been a key concern with Rua since he began competing under the Zuffa banner in September of 2007.
Additionally, Shogun still has some adjustments to make if he is to truly flourish and climb the UFC’s ranks, and it will surely not be easy given the sharks waiting in the incredibly stacked 205lb division. Will he be able to dominate the best that the UFC has to offer without a ring, stomps, knees to the head, soccer kicks, and even though no one likes to mention it, regular drug tests? Will his nagging knee injury come back to haunt him? Some of these questions have at least been partially answered, others remain to be seen.
Suffice to say if the Shogun who wreaked havoc on the Japanese circuit really does come back to town- the light-heavyweight order is in for some serious shaking up. And if Rua can knock off another top ten opponent then perhaps the bandwagon will be justified, but it is simply too early to tell. We shall see…
Tags: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
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Shogun is a really talented fighter, he’s young and has many skills. He can be way better than what we saw in his fight with Liddell. If he just gets in great cardio shape, i feel he can hang and defeat the best 205 guys in the UFC.
I’m not completely impressed with Shogun’s victory over Chuck because Chuck was on his way out anyway, IMO this was the first time i saw Chuck’s age really show in a fight. No doubt that Shogun looked a lot better than he did in the Coleman fight, but he needs to beat a top 3 or 5 guy in order to really show he’s back IMO.
Shogun is still in his 20’s so i’m sure he’ll make a run at the title before his carrer ends.
Despite shoguns poor performance against griffin and lack of cardio against coleman, he’s got the talent to be a top contender in the lhw div. He’s had two solid excuses for not fighting the way he did in pride and i know we’re going to see more of the shogun we saw against lidell in the future rather then the shogun who fought coleman. He’s still young dude and is starting to see what he’s truly capable of if he trains with the right people and if he simply trains like a world class fighter.
Some of this “he’s still got to prove to me that he’s back” is probably fueled by the fact that he just retired lidell. I mean dude, did everyone forget that shogun was once ranked #1? Yeah yeah yeah he didn’t look the same in his first 2 ufc fights but then again, hardly any pride dude look that way when they arrive in a new ballpark dude. Hendo,nogueira,herring etc.
and crop cop
Rua has had a pretty damn good career and he is still quite young… Most of his success coming in Japan and “the regular testing” thing is out there for all to debate, its one of the timeless debates in MMA…
Do I think that he is “completely back”, well I too have my reservations, I wouldn’t mind if he returns to his glory days yet this time in the UFC.. Shogun needs to just continue to train and get his cardio back, he did however accomplish his only option and that was to win his fight quickly and in an explosive fashion… I do wonder who will be next for Rua, he has to continue to prove himself to the UFC brass fighting someone like Vera won’t cut imo, perhaps a rematch with Griffin? But I wouldn’t be suprised if the UFC puts a “filler” match in there for him, tho unfortunate it most likely would be on spike soo I think that is what is going to happen…
Shogun is 18~3~0
Notable wins include: Liddell,Coleman, Overeem (2x), Randleman, Arona, Antonio Rogerio Nogueri, Rampage
Notable Losses include: Babalu, Coleman, Griffin
*for those of you that have seen the Rua v LiL Nog bout, that ended in a UD and I for one still can’t see the UD (decsion) excellent fight but some (not all) actually think that LiL Nog won that bout…….
From 10/2003 to 2/2006 Shogun Rua had a 8 fight win streak, which is rather impressive imo
i think vera vs shogun would b a good fight. both r nasty muay thai guys. and wit both needin to prove themselves i think it would b action packed and a true test for both as to where they r in terms to them being back to form.
Totally agree.Shogun vs The Dean would be good too.
I say throw em in their with jardine, the fight works on more levels than one and based on jardines performance against jackson id say hed be a great test right now for Shogun in this point of his career. They both need a fight make this happen joe silva.
I was just about to post pretty much the same comment. I think this win puts Shogun around the same place as Jardine, and I personally think that would be a great fight. Jardine will test his cardio, and shogun will test Jardine’s chin (which is up in the air still IMO).
Even though Shogun lost to Forrest, had a not so popular showing against Coleman, and finished an old Liddell, he’s still a really good fighter. Jardine has only proved that he has a lot of heart, he doesn’t deserve to fight a top guy like Shogun. Shogun has only lost once in the UFC and has 2 wins in a row, despite what the critics say he finished both Coleman and Liddell.
Jardine like I said before his fight with Rampage,Jardine wins by decision,get’s ko’d,wins by decision then gets ko’d(ko’d by Alexander,beats Chuck by decision,get’s ko’d by Wanderlei,beats Vera by decision, i know Rampage didn’t finish him).
My point is that yes Jardine was once a top contender,but that didn’t last. It would not be fair to Shogun to give him Jardine and it would be more than Jardine deserves. I like Jardine, he’s a good fighter but just like Vera, he needs to go back to the prelims and work his way back up or a good move for him would be to drop to 185, that would IMO give him a whole new career.
Shogun is not the most exciting fighter at this moment or the best, but he deserves a top 3 or 4 guy for his next fight. As an MMA fan i just want fighters to get their due.
But…Shogun isn’t a top contender either. So let him beat Jardine and show he DESERVES a top contender.
dbiz,
Shogun may not be a top contender, but he’s for sure above Jardine. Maybe he does need to win one more fight to get himself into contention but it should be against another guy, not Jardine, Jardine is not a contender nor he is at Shogun’s level of rankings. Shogun like i said before has only lost once in the UFC, Jardine has had more opportunities than he deserves to prove he belongs at the top and although he fights to the end and has a big heart, he failed to do so. Shogun just beat Coleman and Liddell. Jardine just lost to Rampage, won a lackluster fight against Vera and got destroyed by Wanderlei,Jardine should be fighting in the prelims not on the main card against Shogun.
I beleive what Eric said is true. Chuck still the same one dimensional fighter to me is no longer or rather has not been a wrecking force in the 205lb division in a long time. There are way too many diverse fighters coming up in the ranks to say that Rua is back. Let him fight Thiago, Wanderli, Franklin, Dan, Quinton, Evans, Machida or any of the other top 10 205lb fighters then maybe just maybe he will be considered back from the dead.
he wont fight wanderlei
id like to see the rampage vs shogun rematch
Dude that i didn’t think of jardine. What about Shogun vs Cane? i think that would be a great match for both fighters
Perhaps Anderson Silva v. Shogun at 205. Shogun was perhaps on his way out the door with a loss to Chuck, Silva needs a redeeming victory and something that would give him interest. And Shogun’s style plays into Silva’s hands.
*note – Not an original idea, another site suggested it, and I kind of like it so I posted it here.
A fighter like Shogun really shouldnt be judged by 2 fights in a 20+ fight career. May I add also that before Griffin sank that choke in Shogun was 40 seconds away from a decision victory, The Coleman fight at UFC 93 I attended and it was awful, like really bad, but that was his first fight in a year. Shogun returned and knocked out many people will say a ‘past it’ Chuck Liddell and personally I think he looked great but not quite the Shogun of PRIDE who was an animal and in 2006/2007 he was the top LH in the world, I think because of the fashion in which he put Chuck away it puts him right in the picture however with Franklin about to go to war with Wanderlei, Vera and Hamill closed to being signed aswell as Tiago Silva and Griffin on tap and Rampage getting the winner of Evans and Machida the only decent competition would be Jardine or depending on medical suspensions Luis Cane
People are talking as if Shogun hasn’t done anything. The guy just ended Liddell’s career and he’s only lost one time in the octagon. Jardine shouldn’t even be considered, the UFC should bring back Reese Andy because thats a suitable opponent for Jardine at this point. Shogun should get Franklin if Franklin can get passed Wanderlei, or even Wanderlei if he wins, or the winner of Vera-Hamill, but come on already,Jardine? Jardine doesn’t suck but like i’ve been saying all day, he’s at the bottom right now. Shogun is not at the top, but he’s not at the bottom either.
i know dude, jardine is the type of fighter to catapult some other fighters career by supplying them with an awesome ko. WAnderlei and shogun are boys so that fight won’t happen.
Shogun vs luiz cane
Yeah, when Rampage KOed Jardine that was awesome… oh… wait… nevermind Jardine took him to a close decision that at least one judge would have given to Jardine without that final knockdown.
look the ufc is always searching for the next big fight and if you look at the timing, their name/marketing value plus the matchup itself this fight just works. yes shogun is above jardine get over that, he was above coleman and forrest when he fought them. Shogun vs Jardine UFC 103 guaranteed.
I don’t know if i’m seeing things but i thought rua looked a little more cut up for the fight to.And from the minute he stepped in the ring he just seemed to have a confident swagger that he lacked in the other fights.I’m definatly not sold yet that he’s a top of the latter chalenger.But 1 or 2 more convincing fights and he’ll be right up there.
Shogun vs. Eric Schaefer =D
another well written post eric, cheers… Shogun looked good, but we really didnt get to see how his cardio is. he looked leaner and in shape than before, but that has very little to do with a guys cardio. if shogun can regain his form from pride he will be unbeatable. the pride shogun was a freakin beast. the only person that could of touched him at that weight would have been wandy in his prime. that would have been an awesome fight. shogun isnt ready for the top 4, my top 4, at 205 (rashad, rampage, machida, forrest). I think shogun underestimated forrest in their fight and thats why his cardio wasnt good. he didnt see forrest as a threat so he didnt train hard. I would like to see shogun against houston alexander, that fight would probably end quick, but I would like to see it, maybe cane, but I see cane losing to shogun due to inexperience of good competition. after that fight then shogun will be ready for a top guy only if his cardio is there. I think shogun is entering his prime and only adds to the sharks at 205. all those guys are dangerous, but who is the top dog at 205?
Cane wood KO shogun unless he gets taken down and submitted. His striking is alot cleaner faster and more accurate. The only reason cantwell is still alive is cause he has an iron chin and coverred up beautifully that whole fihgt.
Shogun should fight Anderson Silva ….. why not ? I think he would stand a better chance than most would say . I think with his team he used for the Liddell fight his cardio will only improve to the point where he stands a shot at winning . the knees would be flying … lots of attack action . Better than leites/cote anyways .
Here are the potential opponents I’d like to see Shogun matched up against next:
The winner of Griffin-T. Silva
The looser of Evans-Machida
Here is a list of ALL fights I’d like to see Shogun in at some point or another:
Shogun-Griffin 2
Shogun-Rampage 2
Shogun-Machida
Shogun-Evans
Shogun-T. Silva
Shogun-V. Silva
Who is V. Silva? If you mean W. Silva, that won’t happen.
They will feed him Jardine, who should at least be able to hang with him for three rounds so we can see his cardio. Shogun is a gifted striker.. a little work andd he iwll be able to “shake things up”
Shogun has a who’s who list of wins on his record. People that discount him are people that.. don’t know his record. Period.