Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has been catching a number of headlines recently for his refusal to fight fellow Brazilian Glover Teixeira.
Following the UFC on FX 4 event, Dana White let it be known that “Shogun” would rather be cut than face Teixeira. As of now, Rua‘s camp has denied the fact they refused to fight Teixeira, insisting that they were waiting to hear back from the UFC.
White is usually a guy who tends to tell it how it is, but for now I’ll save judgement on Rua and his camp’s refusal—or not as the case may be—to fight Teixeira. Whatever has happened, Rua will now be fighting Brandon Vera in the main event of a nationally televised event.
Yet there has been very little negative outcry from the MMA community regarding Rua‘s actions. Let me point out a disclaimer that I’m actually a “Shogun” fan and by no means am I trying to single out the Brazilian.
Rather, I’m attempting to point out that Rua is being unfairly given a free pass for refusing to fight Teixeira. I get why Rua wouldn’t want to fight him; a vast majority of MMA fans don’t have the slightest clue who Teixeira is. If Rua were to win it would simply be a victory over a top prospect that few fans know about, but if Rua were to lose, it would damage his reputation almost irreparably.
With all that said, I believe the MMA community shouldn’t give Rua a pass based on his career achievements. When Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and Mike Swick all refused to fight each other, fans were hitting the keyboards nonstop despite the three men having a legitimate excuse for not wanting to battle each other.
When Rashad Evans chose to wait for a title shot, every MMA fan in the world laughed at his attempt to “save his brand.”
Yet, when Rua refuses to fight Teixeira and call the UFC’s bluff, it’s simply a footnote in the weekly news.
You could honestly say “Shogun” even owed the UFC a favor. When Rua entered the UFC back in 2007, he did so as one of the crown jewels in the Pride buyout. He was considered one of the top light heavyweights in the world and met Forrest Griffin at UFC 76.
Griffin was meant to be the sacrificial lamb for Rua‘s triumphant entrance to the Octagon, but instead shocked the world by defeating the Brazilian. Rua‘s knee injuries gave his dreadful performance a pass and he was out of action for over a year.
Rua returned to face Mark Coleman at UFC 93 in which “Shogun” looked completely gassed. The bout looked more like a competition of which man would pass out first in the latter stages. Despite the performance, Rua still took home a Fight of the Night bonus.
The win earned Rua a showdown with former champion Chuck Liddell at UFC 97. Rua defeated Liddell by KO, earning Knockout of the Night awards. Not only did “Shogun” earn some extra cash, but the win also gave him a UFC title shot.
The company stuck by “Shogun” despite a few awful performances and even gave him a title shot with victories against an over-the-hill Coleman and Liddell, who was clearly not the same fighter he once was.
Rua will continue to be a fan favorite, an honor he’s certainly earned, but fans shouldn’t simply turn a blind eye to something that caused an uproar for a number of other fighters.
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