(You fuck wit ChurchBoyz Wrestling and you best know you’re gonna get teased gently for it | ‘Shogun’ Rua’s Instagram)
A reported last-minute replacement bout between Chael Sonnen and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua for June 15th’s UFC 161 has been postponed due to visa issues on Sonnen’s behalf. As a result, Rua has been removed from the card entirely, lending a lot of credence to CagePotato reader Mr. Misanthropy’s theory that UFC 161 is UFC 149: Part II.
Only days ago, Rua’s originally scheduled opponent, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, was forced to pull out of the fight with an injury. Shortly thereafter, Sonnen expressed an interest in filling in for the “Brazilian Chicken” and it appeared as if he would step in against Rua.
In fact, Rua and his team were watching tape on “The American Gangster” at the very moment they received the news that Sonnen would not be able to make the trip to Canada. Our friends at Globo and Google Translate have the story for us.
The fight between Maurício Shogun and Chael Sonnen did not last more than a day at the UFC 161 card. The Brazilian posted late on Monday on Twitter that the duel will no longer be played in Winnipeg, Canada, on June 15. The Combate.com found to sources close to the organization that Sonnen had visa problems and, therefore, the Brazilian and the U.S. should be the main attraction of the show in Boston, USA, about two months later. This change of date and venue has not been officially announced, and the fighters did not get to sign the contract, but everything has been verbally agreed between the parties.
For his part, ‘Shogun’ posted on twitter early Tuesday: “I would like to tell my fans that unfortunately the fight vs Chael won’t happen next week. Sorry everyone we try as much we could. August 17.” That tweet, along with several rumors currently circulating the MMA blogosphere, seem to indicate that Sonnen vs. Rua could transpire at the already stacked UFC on FOX Sports 1:1 card, which goes down from the TD Garden in Boston on August 17th.
We don’t know the nature of Sonnen’s visa issues, but often times fighters with past criminal issues have had difficulty getting visas to leave their home countries. Sonnen, of course, is a felon.
We’ll keep you posted on any updates related to this match up. At the current clip, there will likely be fourteen more by tomorrow.