Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is having a ‘perfect’ recovery from knee surgery and the UFC light heavyweight champion has resumed training focused on an expected fight with former champ Rashad Evans early next year, despite the likes of Jon Jones and Ryan Bader joining the title picture.
“So far, everything’s perfect, going like we expected it to. The doctor told me that from December on I can train harder,” Rua recently told Tatame, adding that he’s still on track for a February or March return.
“On my weight class there’re only tough guys, so it’ll be like any other,” Rua continued. “It’s good to have all these guys here, but I can’t keep thinking about the second and the third guys on the line… I’ll have a tough fight with Rashad and it’d be disrespectful to think about Jon Jones, Ryan Bader when I’ll fight Rashad … I’ll give my best and I’ll be focused for my next fight, not on the second and third to go.”
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Im happy to hear that Shogun is having a perfect recovery. I feel terrible when some damages their knees, blowouts, tears, whatever, it’s terrible.
I can’t wait for Shogun to come back but I hope it’s not a huge layoff and he doesn’t look like Shogun vs. Griffin.
Glad to hear recovery is on track. He has a good mind set going into this, he realizes how stacked the division is but wants to focus on Rashad and worry about the next challenger when/if he beats Evans.
Sooo, who gets the next shot after Rashad? A lot of people think Machida/Rampage winner, or Bader/Jones (if matchup is made?), and a few others can be thrown in the mix as well…Franklin, Griffen, Thiago Silva…
I say give Machida/Rampage winner the next shot, and have Bader/Jones winner face Franklin/Griffen winner (again, not sure if this matchup is made?) and that winner gets the next shot.
So many possibilities, It could be a long wait for Machida or Rampage, maybe the winner gets Bader/Jones winner then a shot? I can’t wait for Shogun to return so we can start sorting some of the LHW division out.
1. i dont think that shogun will even win a round against evans. it is going a normal limit the standup kind of fight, that greg jackson always wants.
2. we will never really clear anything up in the ufc lhw div. because dana and joe s. keep it mixed up. rampage, machida, griffin, and chuck liddell are the only fighters that fight top notch fighters every fight at 205 every time. even shogun didnt have to fight anyone [ should say beat anyone] to get his title shots. he lost to forrest and went 2-1 by beating the 2 old men of the div.
this div needs to stop having their top guys fighting at catch weights and freak shows.
you really dont think shogun can win a round against rashad? you did watch the shogun/randleman fight right? i know rashad and randalman are diffrent fighters, but i dont think rashad has a better takedown then randelman. shogun definatly has better and more nasty standup then rashad. rashad isnt going to be able to get in and out faster then machida, so his stick and move gameplan will be tricky. it will be a matter of how many kicks rashad eats to the body/legs before he can grab one and use that to get shogun down, and not get cought in a leglock. something rashad hasnt had to defend against yet as far as i can remember. if rashad can only clinch he should look to break away and re-engage for a takedown. the clinch isnt where rashad wants to be the rua. so your right it will be a typical greg jackson “safe” fight plan, but i think rashad will be overwhelmed when his plans he likes to use dont work, and rua by ko/tko. gonna look kinda like machida/rashad.
truthfully evans is one of the smartest guys in mma and he has someone who is even smarter, behind him. someone who would even go to the borderline of cheating in imo. greg jackson and evans gameplan will be worked out perfectly for this fight.
the only mistake that evans has ever made is that lyoto does have power. i think everyone knows that shogun can put you out.
shogun couldnt sub forrest and got subd himself. and that was coming oiff an injury too. and know he has alot of surgeries. didnt sub coleman either. sorry i dont believe his bjj is a dminating force like your making it sound.
glassman6,
I am surprised no one mentioned this before me considering this is from last week, but imo you are on some touchy ground there. You’re making some pretty character bashing remarks there about Greg Jackson, “someone who would even go to the borderline of cheating”, that’s really on the line of being acceptable imo.
Hopefully, he’ll look better than he did against Coleman when he came back : /
First, lets all agree that Rua’s on-point recovery is a good thing, yes?
Even if you’re an Evans supporter, you don’t want to see a fghter hobbled by knee injury.
Unfortunately, Rua has been slowed down by multiple knee injuries, and his track record on returning to form indicates he does it slowly.
When hurt, he may go out as the “Shogun”, but he returns as Mauricio Rua, if you follow.
Shogun threw Lyoto Machida a pair of beatings and scored the UFC 205 title.
Mauricio Rua looked like sh!t against both Mark Coleman [in their rematch] and Forrest Griffin.
On returning from an injury he got strangled by Griffin, who lets face it isn’t exactly a submission fighter, and his performance against Mark Coleman was explained away [by some if memory serves] as post-injury related.
It seems pretty clear to me:
When Rua is on, he’s ON, and when he’s off, he’s WAY off.
That can be problematic against a Greg Jackson guy.
Compare and contrast that to Rashad Evans’ steadier track-record, and things start looking a bit grim for Rua.
Add to that outlook undeniable factors such as that Evans is the better wrestler, trains with the better camp, and has taken FAR less damage in quasi-sanctioned fights, and things look even grimmer for the champ.
Its also possible that Rua suffers [a bit] from PRIDE syndrome.
Not to the extent that some other PRIDE migrants have, but still, 18 vale tudo/PRIDE fights take their toll on the body, plus the previously-mentioned knee injuries.
Glassman6 and I don’t have usually see eye to eye on much, but in this instance part of his above post may be accurate.
Lets assume for the sake of discussion that Evans gets the first shot at the returning Rua.
I could easily see Evans grinding out a 25 minute UD win, especially if he works on his cardio and moderates his energy expenditures in early rounds, two things he’s had previous issues with.
Evans stand-up is good enough to close distance without getting killed, and his wrestling is good enough to get Rua to the ground, and keep him there for extended periods of time.
Evans is also AT LEAST as fast and athletic as Rua is, and some would say moreso.
Evans generally is a busy enough mat fighter to avoid excessive stand-ups, and Rua isn’t exactly known for his world-class escapability and counter-wrestling.
Evans supporters get ready.
Unless something unforseen drops, its looking like your boy is going to be goldholding in 2011…
yea that’s a lot of knee surgeries, but unless you know the surgeon was on mind altering drugs i wouldn’t count rashad’s chickens just yet.
If Shogun is anywhere newar top form the only gold rashad gets is in his new teeth.
Sorry to intervene, but did I just read that Rashad Evans has a steady track record? I partially agree with this, but I think you are all forgetting that some of Rashads’ wins are far from remarkable. First off, he had a draw with Tito Ortiz. Come on, who does that? Secondly, he could only beat Michael Bisping, a one-dimensional fighter without takedown defense or ground game, by SPLIT decision. Now, if a wrestler can’t beat a brit by at least unanimous, there’s a problem. After that, he knocked out an IMO on the decline Liddell, and then used his wrestling to tko a weak Forrest Griffin in the third round, lucky enough because he would have lost a decision. Now I don’t see any of those fighters as “great” by any means, although he did pull off two unanimous decision victories over Thiago Silva and Rampage Jackson after getting knocked out cold by Machida. So we talk about how Shogun has had some dissatisfying fights recently before taking out Machida, well if we hop off Rashads’ nuts for a second we will see that he has also had some. Now, I’m not trying to thrash rashad, because I believe he is a pretty good fighter. I’m just pointing out that Shoguns’ past performances mean nothing since we’re overlooking Rashads’ past performances. Now for my pick, I must agree with Rashad winning, STRICTLY because of his wrestling background. I think he’ll stick to the game plan and grind out a unanimous or tko Shogun via gnp. BUT, I am taking into huge consideration the fact that Rashad may fall out of game plan and foolishly stand with Shogun as he did Machida. Should this happen, Rashad will end up looking like a pufferfish, yet again. :]
Correction, Rashad and Forrest fought for the title. What I meant to say was that he lost the first two rounds to Forrest because he waited until the third round to take him down. I don’t think Forrest Griffin is a very good fighter, so the fact that he beat Rashad in the stand up game baffles me. I only use this to strengthen my point that if Rashad tries to stand even half the amount of time with Shogun that he did with Forrest, he’s going DOWN. Takedown, takedown, takedown. That’s the gameplan, and I think he’ll stick to it. As for who should fight Shogun after that, I think the winner of Machida/Rampage should fight the winner of Bader/Jones, and the winner of that fight should fight the winner of Shogun/Rashad. Nuff said.
when did a healthy shogun ever get beat by wrestling?
My point exactly.
Suga all day baby. Shogun’s a beast, but I have to go with my mans. Should be an epic fight.
P.S. I cant believe me and Jcohl agree on something. Also, whos really gonna beat Jose Aldo. Stylistically I dont see anybody phuckin with Aldo!
I wouldn’t be surprised if Evans takes the belt back if Shogun isn’t at his best. If shogun does come back close to 100%, look out!
I agree that the winner of Machida/Rampage will probably be next in line for the winner of Shogun/Evans, simply because of the various “rematch” implications and the fact that both fighters (Lyoto and Jackson) are big draws / main event-ers.
The winner of Bader/Jones should get Franklin/Griffen for a #1 Contentder elimination bout.
Though…this could all fall out if Anderson Silva decides to make a permanent climb to 205 in 2011, he would receive an immediate title shot IMO.
So Jones vs Franklin for a future title shot…sounds good to me.
You’re right about A Silva and a 205 title shot.
But I’m pretty sure A Silva would have problems with a quick, athletic wrestler like Rashad Evans, and IMO by next year no one will be able to deal with Jon Jones, including Shogun Rua…
I agree Evans will be wearing the gold in 2011. Hopefully Machida will
win and we will see a rematch between him and Evans. What’s gonna happen after Jones beats Bader and the next person in line after that
which could possibly be Franklin who I think will beat Griffin?
Does he fight Evans? Or will they even fight eachother?
Jones won’t fight Evans…
Both Jon Jones and Rashad Evans are Greg Jackson fighters…
The only reason Shogun will lose to evans, and it’s a damn shame, is because he’s coming off a long layoff from and injury.
That’s the ONLY reason. If he was 100% he would put “sugar” to sleep.
Jones and Evans is somewhat inevitable. Wether they like it or not. Dana will give them the “jon fitch” treatment if they play the “we’re bff’s” card. Especially since hamiil just fought tito and since condit said he would fight jackson teammate gsp if given the chance.
I sure hope dana finds a way to stop this whole “teammate” excuse. If you’re #1 and #2, then you’ve got to fight. PERIOD!!
I hope shogun comes back strong because after he looked super awesome when he whooped on machida and I think it will be tough to take his title away. But “sugar” sure got some help with the injury.
I want to see Rampage take out machida and shogun take out evans so we can see a rampage vs shogun rematch.
gREAT cALL jAZZ!!
Shogun/Rampage Rematch for the Title!!!
I love that idea buttttttttttt IT WONT happen atleast not for the title!!! MY DAWG Rampage Heart aint into fighting anymore..!! You can hear it in his interviews and see it on his expressions.
Rashad will be the first LHW camp to lose gold and recapture it since ……… Dang I dont remember who lost it and was able to regain it in the LHW picture.. Tito Randy Chuck Rampage Griffin Evans Machida Rua,
DANG thats a line up right there. That just pure hell to get through! I vote Evan will regain it then Machida will beat Rashad again…
Then it will be the MACHIDA ERROR allllll over again..
@onlytrue1 -
I’m pretty sure that Chuck Liddell was the last man to lose and regain the UFC 205 title…
you’re correct as he’s also the only recent one to get a second shot
soon as machida destroys rumpage,he will be champion 2011,no matter who that champion is.Sorry fellas.
I think this is going to be a really tough matchup for Rua coming off of an injury and surgery that’s sidelined him for so long but I certainly hope that he is able to beat the odds and take Rashad out. I’ve always liked Rashad and really enjoyed his coaching on TUF but for me the fact that he opted to sit out for the better part of a year rather than face someone in the interim and risk his title shot. I can understand the desire to not want to risk losing but to me that is not what a champion does and if he does win against Rua there should be an asterix next to his name that reminds everyone that he backed down when he could have stepped up and to me that takes a lot away from who he is as a fighter.
I have a bad feeling about a 100% shogun would destroy Rashad but coming off knee surgery and a 12 month layoff this isnt a fight shogun wanted i can see him gassing
after the forrest and coleman gassings i have to ay i’s rather see a delay, and interim champ, than an underconditioned Shogun. And assuming (which folks aren’t doing) that he is in full form I hope Rashad will not fight tentatively but take a chance. If Jackson sends him in to work a fast pace get it to the mat and keep it there even if he’s barely winning on points…. arggh. besides that quite possibly won’t work against shogun