Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
It didn’t take long for Shogun Rua to get a new opponent at UFC Sao Paulo, as Paul Craig will now fight the former light heavyweight champion on the card.
Last week it was announced that Sam Alvey was out of his UFC Sao Paulo co-main event contest with Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. Paul Craig will now fill in for the injured Alvey and Shogun will remain on the card.
The UFC announced the news on Tuesday. UFC Sao Paulo takes place next month, November 16th, at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Rua and Craig’s fight will serve as the co-main event, whilst in the headlining act Jan Blachowicz takes on Jacare Souza, who is making his light heavyweight debut on the night.
Rua (26-11) went on his best UFC run for several years when he won three fights from 2015-17, only to have his win streak stopped by Anthony Smith at UFC Hamburg in July 2018. Since then the former UFC light heavyweight champion has rebounded by finishing Tyson Pedro in December of last year.
Craig (12-4) faces a fairly quick turnaround against the veteran Rua, as he fought at UFC Mexico City in September, submitting Vinicius Moreira in the first round to earn a $50,000 bonus. The Scot, who has never seen the distance in his MMA career, will hope he to pick up his third win in 2019 when he fights Rua next month.