Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is one of the best fighters at 205 lbs, but his coach Rafael Cordeiro hopes he can recapture his dominance that made him a champion.
But since the former UFC light heavyweight champion has reunited with his longtime coach, Cordeiro said he plans to fix some of his weaknesses that were present in his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 128.
“The training here will make him stronger, but we’re not a miracle house,” Cordeiro told Sherdog.com.
“This is a place where he’ll work hard, a place where he’ll make sure he’ll never again fight like he did against Jones.”
The talks of Rua joining Kings MMA came at the request of Cordeiro, who will help the Brazilian prepare for his upcoming bout against Forrest Griffin at UFC Rio. Rua and Griffin last met in 2007, in a bout that saw Griffin upset his opponent in unpredictable fashion, in which Griffin earned the victory via rear naked choke.
At the time, Rua was making his debut for the UFC and was highly touted as the best light heavyweight in the world.
Cordeiro added that bringing Rua into Kings MMA was discussed prior to his title bout against Jones.
“We talked before the Jon Jones fight, but some family issues prevented him from coming to the U.S.,” Cordeiro said.
“It was easy to convince him because of our friendship and affection.”
And it is because of their friendship that has Cordeiro convinced Rua will evolve and perform better at UFC Rio.
“I was his coach from the time he was a white belt until he was a black belt. No one knows him as I do, and I can say there is a lot we can add here to improve on his game.”
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