This Saturday, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is set to take on veteran Brandon Vera at UFC on FOX 4 taking place in Los Angeles, California.
For Rua, it’s a chance to re-establish himself in the light heavyweight division after crushing defeats to Jon Jones and Dan Henderson. For Vera, it’s a return from the wilderness, being on the brink of getting cut from the UFC and now facing a top five opponent who could help him leapfrog in the rankings.
Elsewhere on the card, there are other light heavyweights facing similar predicaments. Lyoto Machida, once the darling of the division, is also looking to comeback from a championship fight loss to Jones last December, and he faces Ryan Bader; formerly riding a 12-fight undefeated streak until he too fell to Jones. But now Bader has the momentum of two victories behind him, and a win over Machida will be the most significant in his career.
With Phil Davis also on the card, the light heavyweight division is in for a complete shakeup come Saturday. However, some young and up-and-coming fighters from the lighter divisions will also be hoping to make their mark in what promises to be a well-rounded and tensely fought contest.