Murilo Rua didn’t see that coming.
“Ninja”, the older brother of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, predicted his brother to knock Chael Sonnen out in the main event of UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston, but the night ended early when Sonnen tapped Rua with a guillotine in the first round.
“I was surprised,” “Ninja” told MMAFighting.com on Monday. “In my opinion, Mauricio played the wrong game. He should’ve moved more to avoid the takedowns. Fighting on half guard against a wrestler isn’t a good strategy. He should have brought Chael to his guard when he got taken down, tried to sweep him or land some punches. But Sonnen got his neck, unfortunately.”
More Coverage: UFC Fight Night 26 Results | UFC news
Download MMA Fighting iPhone App
This is the first time “Shogun” suffered two consecutive losses in 29 professional fights, and his UFC record now stands at 5-6. “Ninja” still believes his brother has what it takes to be the best light heavyweight fighter on the planet, but he has to make some changes.
“My brother needs someone, he needs a head coach who can listen to,” he said. “I always told him the truth no matter what, but I had issues with trainers from his camp. Maybe in the future I’ll work with him again, who knows. I’ll talk to him when he returns to Curitiba.”
“Shogun” changed his coaches, trainers and managers several times during his UFC run, and his brother believes that is one of the problems.
“He has a lot of shady persons around him, people trying to take advantage of him,” he said. “People from his camp said I wasn’t good for Mauricio because I made him nervous when I was on his corner, and he listened to that, so I decided to leave. If something is wrong I would point it out, I wouldn’t just lie to please him.”
It was the first time “Shogun” has been defeated in the UFC by someone not ranked in the top 10 of his weight class. However, cutting 20 more pounds to fight at middleweight isn’t an option, according to “Ninja”.
“My brother never went on a diet,” he said. “But I believe it’s hard for him to (fight at middleweight), he weighs around 230 pounds. I don’t know what he’s thinking for his future, I’ll talk to him when he gets back home.”