Newly-crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is recovering from surgery to repair a knee injury suffered in his May victory over Lyoto Machida, delaying his first title defense against former champ Rashad Evans, UFC President Dana White announced on Thursday.
“He just got out of the hospital; it was a successful surgery,” White said, according to MMAjunkie. “He had the surgery in [Los Angeles], and he’s going to be doing all his therapy in (Las) Vegas … for the next five weeks.”
“He got hurt in the fight,” White added, responding to a report by ESPN’s MMA Live that Rua injured the knee before his matchup with Machida at UFC 113, where he scored a first-round knockout in rematch of their controversial October meeting.
Evans earned another shot at the 205-pound title with a unanimous decision over fellow former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 114 on May 29.
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Pictured: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
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I wonder how severe it was and how long he will be out. That’s three knee surgeries now and he’s only 28 years old, not good.
yeah that pretty nuts
WOW… Shogun knee’s again!!!! Man i feel for the guy… I hope he can make a full recovery but this is gonna be tough to STAY healthy.. He reset the bar so high again in his fights against Machida now he’s out again so I guess The UFC gonna make a 205 TITLE FIGHT for Rashad and Whoever they see fit to get a title shot…
I got this new Idea right it will revolutionize the sport I say they make a 205 battle royal!! Lyoto Rashad Lil Nog Rampage Liddel Couture Franklin Griffin and whomever comes out on top wins the belt!!! LOL I’D PAY TO SEE IT!!! Maybe throw in a ladder and have Danna white jump in with a chair ahhhh the possibilitys are endless!!
Come on OT1, “battle royal” “throw in a ladder” I know you’re joking but that’s almost getting into troll territory, you’re better than that.
justin can you explain to me what “troll territory” is?
Where you live.
You know all the things you do that we tell you not to? That’s it.
well generally when you tell me not to do them anymore i stop
hopefully shogun will come off of this knee surgery better than the last one – because he didnt look good when he was in the cage against forrest or coleman
And this sends a clear signal to every future Rua opponent to work on their low kicks and lateral movement…
but does anyone really want to start trading low kicks with Rua?
Probably not, but I bet Forrest Griffin would give it a shot if he ever gets the chance again…
;-)
really bummed about this. I was hoping that they would have this fight in indy.
do u think this will effect his takedown defense in anyway, i am wondering i have never fought and i know some people have on this site
It could, depending on what/how bad the injury was, and how much he trusts his knee when he comes back.
Any injury affects your ability to fight. To be honest, I don’t believe Shogun is as worried about takedown defense as he is at his ability to be offensive with both his guard and his striking which are two areas this really affects.
This will affect everything. Or I should say it “could” affect everything. Everything from his ability to train at a champions level to his ability to fight at a champions level. The difference from the Shogun that fought Griffin to the Shogun that fought Machida was night and day. Hopefully this injury/surgery does not hinder him to the point that we see a resurrection of the disappointing Shogun of a few years back.
A bum knee, in the cage, will affect everything from footwork to punching properly and anything in between including the mental aspect of pulling the trigger when it needs to be pulled.
thanks guys great answers
All knee injuries are not the same. Without detail on the exact type of injury it is impossible to predict if this is something that jeopardizes Rua’s career, affects his capabilities in the cage, or is nothing to worry about. One thing is certain, Rua will put that knee to the test with his particular style (ferocious leg kicks). Hard striking with the legs is not good for injured knees. Even if the surgery “went well” …once injured a bad knee is often never quite the same. Rua would be wise to take his time and recover as completely as possible and make adjustments to his style if he can.
Damn, 3 surgeries, thats tough.
I would think that the most important thing “knee-related” to Rua is his ability to stuff one [or more] in someone’s grill when they shoot…
I don’t think he ever planned to stuff the shot with anything but a solid knee to the face…
Not exactly “sprawl and brawl”, so what would we call it?
Knee and flee?
;-)
more like knee and glee… if someone is shooting as hard as Rashad does into a knee moving that fast… all that’s left is getting your hand raised…
This injury I really think will help Rashad though. I mean the 3rd round letdown is bad enough in a 3 round fight… but in a 5 round fight… it’s no beuno.
Seems like Rashad Evans’ toughest opponent is minute 11 of a fight…
;-)
i don’t get this. It was reported before the fight that Rua was having a problem with his knee. Rua denies it after the fight but somehow comes up with a bad knee and now Dana passes it off as if it happen during a ten second fight. someone help me here. Was his knee hurt going in and rua was bullshitting after the fight or did his knee get hurt watching Machida eat his fist?
this sport needs injury reports like the other leagues before the fights start. Why do all the other leagues do it but this one doesn’t? it is hard to bet these when u take a heavy favorite and have no idea his neck is damaged.
They have pre-fight physicals that occur the same day as weigh-ins, that’s part of how they found out what was wrong with Alves. Dana says above it happened during the fight. You don’t see injury reports in this sport because you don’t want to give away an a possible advantage. As an added note, any injury information you hear is what is allowed no person is ever required to make their medical records public. Doctor-patient confidentiality applies to all.
Hate to hear this…I want to see these two fight. Hopefully, Rua’s rehab will be smooth (as smoothly as rehabs can go, I suppose) and he can perform at the same level he was at beating Machida.
The fact that he’s a;ready had so many knee operations south of 30 is worrisome. There’s no telling what kind of arthritic problems lie in this young man’s future….
Rashad will win hands down
Seriously Kimbo? In what fairy tale world could Rashad win this fight? Are we talking about the same Rashad that got knocked out by Lyoto Machida, a fighter not known for power strikes? The same Rashad who dominated Rampage but almost gave the fight away when he went down after taking a SINGLE, SOLITARY hard shot? The Rashad who had his eyes squeezed shut in fear when he, by some mircle, managed to knockout an aging Liddell. Wake up Kimbo, you’re dreaming…