Nearly five years ago, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tried to book Rashad Evans vs. Mauricio Rua, a bout that not only fell apart due to injury, but one that served as the eventual coming out party for Jon Jones, who went on to smash “Shogun” for the 205-pound strap.
A lot has changed since then.
At the time, Evans and Rua were ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the light heavyweight division. These days, they’ve dropped down to No. 7 and No. 8, which isn’t too shabby, all things considered.
Evans (19-4-1) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader in a bout where he looked “old” (according to this guy). Rua (23-10), meanwhile, rebounded from back-to-back knockout losses to Dan Henderson and Ovince Saint Preux by outpointing fellow aging veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Assuming both fighters can stay healthy, “Suga” will finally throw down with “Shogun” at the UFC on FOX 19 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on April 14, according to Combate (via MMA Fighting), in a city and venue to be determined. Also penciled in for that card is a lightweight pairing between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Thoughts?