Earlier this week word arrived that former UFC light heavyweight champion Shogun Rua was returning to action against recent title contender Volkan Oezdemir at May’s UFC Chile.
The Brazilian MMA legend has been out of action since his rousing TKO win over Gian Villante at UFC Fight Night 106 last March, but Rua is quietly maintaining a three-fight win streak in the contender-deficient UFC light heavyweight class.
If he can get past Oezdemir, the No. 7-ranked Rua would potentially be on the cusp of title contention again, but he’s aware “No Time” is anything but an easy match-up.
Rua recently told MMA Fighting his respect for Oezdemir and added that he simply likes the challenge the Swiss slugger, who rose up the UFC ranks very quickly with two consecutive knockouts in 2017, brings to the cage:
”I think Volkan is a great fighter, the No. 2 in the ranking, but I like challenges. It’s going to be a big challenge for me, and I think it’s an interesting fight for the fans.
”In a short time in the UFC, he was a phenom, easily beating Manuwa and Misha, who are good fighters, and that earned him a shot at the belt,” Rua said. “He has evolved a lot since he joined the UFC. I know he’s a really tough guy.”
Yet even though Oezdemir bulldozed his way into a title bout against champion Daniel Cormier at January’s UFC 220, his rapid rise came to a halt just as quickly when “DC” ground him en route to a dominant stoppage victory in Boston. So Rua acknowledged that while his go-to skill is his dangerous Muay Thai, the longtime legend admitted he would be willing to ground the fight if he needed to:
”Muay thai is my background, but I fight MMA,” Rua said. “If I need to take him down to go on an easier path, I will do that. I know that Volkan has a good striking, but he also has a good wrestling, a good takedown defense, and sometimes you wear yourself out trying to take someone down. I will work hard on my muay thai, jiu-jitsu and wrestling, and I hope I can impose my strategy and come out victorious.”
Despite this gameplan, Rua knows Oezdemir is a big test, one where if he finds himself on the victorious side would possibly propel him to another title shot – a shot he fully insists he would have earned:
”This is a tough fight, but I know that, if I win, I will be one step closer to having another chance to fight for the belt,” Rua said. “I face every fight as a dream, and defeating Volkan is my dream now. That might earn me a chance for the belt. My focus is 100 percent on him, and I know that I will be closer to the belt with a win.
”Everybody knows my career, knows that I was a champion in PRIDE and in the UFC. I’ve been fighting the world’s best fighters since 2005, so if I win this fight I will deserve to fight for the belt — for my history, being a former champion, and for fighting someone like Oezdemir, the No. 2 in the ranking.”
Rua has a clear goal in mind, and it’s one that would no doubt put him amongst the best light heavyweights in UFC history were he to regain the title he lost to arguably the best 205-pound champ Jon Jones in 2011.
He said it’s not quite time to fully focus on that, because while it is his ultimate goal he can only focus on the task in front of him in Oezdemir:
”I don’t think about that yet. If I have a chance to fight for the belt I will definitely envision that moment, but right now I can only envision my victory over Oezdemir. It would obviously be a big dream to reconquer the UFC belt.”
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