Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua has retired from MMA according to Dana White.
The UFC boss let the news slip on an ESPN+ Q&A . MMA reporter Nolan King was first to note the inadvertent announcement.
“I don’t know if it was a slip up, but Dana White just indicated Shogun Rua is retired on the ESPN+ livestream Q&A #UFCFightIsland,” King wrote on social media.
White was very vocal about wanting ‘Shogun’ to hang them up after he lost to Paul Craig at UFC 255.
“I hope it is, I hope that tonight was his last night,” White said. “I would like to see him retire.”
“[Paul Craig] looked good and not to take anything away from him at all, he came and did what he had to do tonight but just being honest, ‘Shogun’ didn’t look like ‘Shogun’ to me tonight,” White said.
“‘Shogun’ looked old and looked like a shell of his former self tonight. Yeah, I’d like to see him hang it up hopefully.”
Shogun appeared to be in a reflective mood on Tuesday. The 39-year-old posted the below image to Instagram alongside a caption that thanked God for all his achievements in the sport. He stopped short of officially retiring but if White is to be believed ‘Shogun’ will speak publicly about his fighting future soon.
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