Just last month, news broke that former UFC champ Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua (20-6) and fellow Brazilian striker Thiago Silva (14-3, 1NC) were to meet later this summer at UFC 149.
It was a bit of a surprise for Rua who had expected to face Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson or Dan Henderson instead.
Now that he’ll face Silva, a former Chute Boxe training partner, ‘Shogun’ knows that fighting is his job and he’ll look for an exciting fight in Canada noting that someone is getting their ass kicked on July 21st.
(Tatame.com) Why it took them so long to match you up?
Rampage would be my next opponent but then he got injured. They wondered about a rematch against Dan Henderson, but he’s fighting for the title, so they have this dilemma for a while, waiting for a guy and now they got it. They offered me Thiago Silva and it was a surprise to me.You trained with Thiago Silva at Chute Boxe. How does it feel fighting him?
Actually I’ve always said I don’t like fighting other Brazilians, especially a guy I know like Thiago. I really like him, but we’re professionals and that’s what we do for a living.What are the expectations for this fight? You have similar styles…
I guess it’s going to be an interesting fight because Thiago likes striking and so do I. It’s gonna be ass kicking. I respect Thiago as an athlete and as a person, I know he’s very good and complete, but I’ll get there prepared.
UFC 149 is expected to take place on July 21, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.