Another night, another MMA veteran has arrived at a career crossroads. After being dispatched in under a minute by Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 56, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua now finds himself questioning where to go next.
At 32 years of age and having lost four of his last five fights, one wonders how long “Shogun” will continue before he decides to call it a day. Given his recent in-cage struggles, that decision may soon be made for him—at least as far as his UFC career is concerned.
This may strike you as somewhat revisionist, but the more I think about the Brazilian’s career, the more surprised I am by his incredible success. You could drive a truck through the holes in his grappling game, after all—particularly his defensive wrestling. Indeed, even his striking looks unrefined next to many of his peers.
At the risk of flirting with cliché, Rua fits the description of the stereotypical fighter better than almost any mixed martial artist I can think of. What he lacks in technique he makes up for with sheer dogged aggression and physical and mental fortitude.
Unfortunately, an overreliance on said attributes tends to make a fighter age less like a fine wine and more like a half-eaten apple. Beyond winning the genetic lottery, there is a simple reason why men like Bernard Hopkins and Randy Couture have been able to maintain successful fighting careers into their late 40s: They fight like they value cognitive function.
In combat sports, age is often less important than miles on the clock. In a very real sense, traumatic brain injury accelerates the ageing process. Reflexes are blunted, cognitive function erodes and resistance to future trauma is diminished (You can read my piece on the science underlying the fighter’s chin for a more in-depth discussion of both the short- and long-term effects of brain trauma).
The Brazilian’s decline is not dissimilar to that of Diego Sanchez, but it is clearly more pronounced. While the original Ultimate Fighter winner struggles to compete with the sport’s elite, he has thus far at least managed to remain conscious.
Despite this, I argued back in March that it may be time for Sanchez to hang up the gloves. The deterioration of Rua as a fighter is clearer still, but need it be so glaringly obvious before we make the necessary noises to nudge a fighter toward retirement?
I have long been at odds with myself on this issue. I place a great deal of emphasis on personal responsibility, yet remain conscious of the fact that personalities like Meldrick Taylor and Gary Goodridge exist.
Fighters need to be protected, and oftentimes from themselves. Postponing the conversation until speech is slurred and cognitive function is noticeably impaired seems like an extraordinary abdication of this responsibility.
None of this is to suggest that “Shogun” is punch-drunk or even unable to remain competitive. It is merely a reminder that there is a conversation to be had here, and it needn’t wait until the next time he wakes up staring at the lights.
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