We know Mauricio “Shogun” Rua didn’t want to fight surging light heavyweight prospect Glover Teixeira.
He has his own reasons, and I’m sure they include something along the lines of “he’s an awesome fighter but who in the world is Glover Teixeira?” That’s a valid enough reason. Rua is a legend of the sport winding down a spectacular career, so he’s probably earned the right to not face monsters who have very little name value.
But then UFC president Dana White came out and said that Rua told him he’d rather be cut than actually have to fight Teixeira. That sounded a little off, if you ask me.
Why would any UFC fighter agree to be terminated from their contract rather than fight a hand-picked opponent? That’s why the UFC almost always gets the fight they want: Because, in the end, where else are you going to go and make the same kind of money?
And now Rua has responded by telling Tatame.com that the discussion about being cut never happened:
Dana White commented I rather leave UFC than fighting him but it was not true. UFC never thought about it neither did I. At any point I said I would leave in case I fought him. I just said it was not interesting right now and that’s why we had our agreement. This conversation never happened.
These kinds of things never look good on White, or the UFC for that matter. Even if what White originally said was true, what’s the point of making it public? Unless you’re planning on immediately putting Teixeira in main-event fights, all you’re doing is making the guy who turned him down seem like a giant pansy.
And that giant pansy, like it or not, is headlining a Fox show in August.
Part of White’s gigantic appeal with the casual public is his proclivity for saying exactly what’s on his mind at all times. But it might be time realize that throwing fighters under the bus isn’t always the best idea. These little feuds never look good on anyone.
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