UFC fans were buzzing with skepticism when it was announced that Mauricio “Shogun” Rua turned down a bout against rising prospect Glover Teixeira. The drama became even bigger when Dana White said that “Shogun” told him he’d rather be cut than face Teixeira.
The plot has thickened, as Rua is now telling MMAJunkie.com that he never said he’d rather be cut.
“That was a miscommunication,” Rua said.
Rua was originally scheduled to face Thiago Silva at UFC 149, but Silva backed out of the fight due to injury. Teixeira was then brought into the fray as Silva’s replacement. Teixeira won his UFC debut in impressive fashion, vindicating the hype surrounding him.
White pointed to Teixeira not being a top-10 fighter as the main reason for Rua not accepting the bout, per MMAJunkie.com:
“..the reason they were saying that was, ‘Oh, he’s not top 10,'” White said following this month’s UFC on FX 3 event. “But then we offered him [Brandon] Vera, and he took it in two seconds—and Vera isn’t top 10 either.”
“Shogun” was quick to counter that claim by explaining the reasoning behind his decision to accept the Vera fight over fighting Teixeira.
“But [Silva and Vera] do have a record in the UFC. Everybody knows them. That was the difference,” Rua said.
It seemed as if White didn’t care for that notion of thinking.
“Me and (UFC CEO) Lorenzo (Fertitta) said, ‘Look, you can’t turn down fights at this level. The money you’re making and where you are ranked in the world, you don’t turn down fights at this level. We might have to cut you,'” White said. “[Rua] said, ‘I’d rather be cut than fight him.'”
No matter what side you believe, it sounds as if all parties got what they wanted as Rua faces the opponent he wanted and the UFC keeps one of their bigger names in the 205-division active.
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