Tag: Mauricio Rua

UFC 190 Fact or Fiction: Can Rousey vs. Correia Be Worth the Price of Admission?

Nobody thinks Bethe Correia is going to beat Ronda Rousey on Saturday at UFC 190.
That includes oddsmakers, who’ve made her an underdog of historic proportions; the UFC, which has already gone as far as to book Rousey’s next fight; and even…

Nobody thinks Bethe Correia is going to beat Ronda Rousey on Saturday at UFC 190.

That includes oddsmakers, who’ve made her an underdog of historic proportions; the UFC, which has already gone as far as to book Rousey’s next fight; and even Brazilian MMA fans, who are shown here vocally supporting Rousey on Wednesday during open workouts in what ought to be Corriea’s home turf.

In short, nobody is buying this matchup. It’s expected to be a complete wash. A cakewalk. A gimme.

Weirdly, therein lies much of the intrigue for this event. Without much else to write home about on its super-sized main card, the job of convincing UFC fans to part with the $60 pay-per-view cost largely falls to Rousey and Correia.

Luckly, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion has some ideas on how to sway them. Rousey says this won’t be another quick and easy victory for her because she plans to take her time torturing Correia for slighting her during the lead-up to this fight, relayed by the MailOnline.

Should we believe her?

Glad you asked. Here Bleacher Report lead writers Chad Dundas (that’s me) and Jonathan Snowden try to separate the fact from fiction headed into UFC 190.

 

Fact or Fiction: Ronda Rousey Is Good to Her Word, Takes Her Time Painfully Dispatching Bethe Corriea.

Chad: Fiction. I’ve gone back and forth on this one. On one hand, Rousey is exactly the kind of human being who would delight in creating some special punishment for an opponent she felt particularly disrespected her. So it’s possible she harbors a grudge with Correia for beating up her pals and making that off-color remark that may or may not have been about Rousey’s dad.

Heck, the women’s bantamweight champion doesn’t usually even need an excuse to do what she does:

On the other hand, Rousey is a smart promoter, and this is all probably a sales pitch. She knows her recent fights were criticized for being too short to be worth the price of pay-per-view admission, so this time she’s promised fans their money’s worth. Those promises ultimately prove empty. Correia is a huge underdog here and Double R treats her as such. This fight ends in under a round.

 

Jonathan: Fiction. This is nothing more than an attempt to sell an athletically bankrupt fight as something worth watching. Correia, after all, engaged in competitive bouts with Rousey’s teammates Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke—two women with a combined UFC record of 1-5.

This fight is a farce. Rousey is the better athlete, the better striker, the more imposing physical specimen and the better grappler. The more Rousey can deflect these truths with talk of putting the hurt on her opponent, the better her chance of making beaucoup bucks at the box office.

 

Chad: I’m glad we’re on the same page here, even though it probably bodes poorly for our enjoyment of UFC 190—a PPV scheduled for four hours and seven fights. It’s as if matchmakers knew the entree wasn’t going to be that special, so they loaded up on appetizers.

I don’t know, though. I still can’t shake the feeling Rousey might be just vindictive enough to try to pull this off. Even though I officially dubbed it “fiction,” I also wouldn’t be surprised if she makes this fight really ugly, prolonging Correia’s agony until the referee is forced to make a straight-up mercy stoppage.

 

Fact or Fiction: The Nogueira Brothers Find opponents Who Belong in the Cage Even Less Than They Do and Turn Back the Clock with Big Wins.

Jonathan: Fact. Ten years ago, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and his UFC 190 opponent Mauricio “Shogun” Rua put on a dazzling display at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, wowing the fight world and redefining what high-level mixed martial arts looks like.

Thirteen years ago in the Tokyo Dome, Rogerio’s brother Rodrigo conquered a giant, grabbing kickboxing champion Semmy Schilt in a triangle choke that forced the big man to quickly tap out.

In the spirit of frank discourse, the Nogueira brothers we’ll see at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are not those Nogueira brothers. The 39-year-old Rogerio has fought just three times in the last four years. We only wish that were true of his twin brother, a heavyweight legend who had his arm snapped by Frank Mir, among other indignities, in that time span.

Still, if there were ever a night for a glorious sendoff, this is it. Rua is just as washed up as Rogerio, making that one anyone’s fight. Rodrigo’s opponent, Stefan Struve, another European giant, is barely a year removed from what might have been a nervous breakdown at UFC 175 and exactly the kind of rising star Big Nog typically sends right back down the ladder—say “hi” to Brendan Schaub and Dave Herman on your way, Stefan.

I don’t know, Chad. Call me crazy, but I kind of have a good feeling about this one.

 

Chad: I can tell you’re excited, Jon, and on its face, the thing you’re proposing isn’t insane. Rua is 1-4 since December 2012 and Struve is a complete unknown—we simply have no idea what to expect from him in the wake of the career-threatening heart condition that kept him out through the middle of 2013-14. That’s not to mention he’s coming off back-to-back losses.

Odds Shark makes both Nogueiras underdogs on Saturday, but these bouts strike me as toss-ups. It’s possible one Nog stumbles to a win. But both? That’s too fantastical for me.

It kills me to say it, because I want you to be happy, but this is fiction.

 

Jonathan: This is what people might call a “win-win scenario.” If both come out of the UFC shark tank bathed in glory, I’ll be online celebrating obnoxiously in classic Snowden style. If they lose? Well, then we’re one-step closer to these valiant warriors hanging up their gloves and moving on with their lives.

You know what? I can live with either outcome.

 

Fact or Fiction: The Neil Magny Victory Tour Runs off the Road and the Bus Catches Fire as Demian Maia Points the Detour Sign Right Back to Fight Pass.

Chad: Factual statement. It feels like forever that we’ve been alternately reminding people to calm down about Neil Magny’s seven-fight win streak and begging matchmakers to find him a Top 10 opponent. As the UFC’s No. 6-ranked welterweight, Demian Maia fits the bill nicely.

He’s a little long in the tooth, sure, but the 37-year-old Brazilian comes in fresh from reminding us that Ryan LaFlare’s 11-0 record may have been mostly smoke and mirrors. And shoot, compared to Magny’s resume, LaFlare’s previous level of competition was pretty stiff.

On this night, we’ll learn Maia is no Hyun Gyu Lim, Kiichi Kunimoto or William Macario—those are the actual people Magny beat in his last three fights. I’ve got this one penciled in as a good old-fashioned submission victory for the former ADCC world champ.

 

Jonathan: World Book Encyclopedia-level fact. Truthfully, that’s the best kind of fact.

Until late last year, I was like everyone else—a dude without any strong Neil Magny opinions. Then a reader sent me a tweet supporting Magny’s case for fighter of the year. Unironically.

Chad, I found that so irksome that I cannot cheer for Mr. Magny. He could fight that dentist who shot poor Cecil the Lion and I’d be forced to sit neutrally with my hands in my lap. Neil Magny is, through no fault of his own, the most annoying fighter on the planet.

 

Chad: Whoa, strong take. I hope nobody ever unironically tweets you about my work status. I mean, you yourself note that none of this is Magny’s fault. All he’s done is beat eight of the 10 men UFC matchmakers have put in front of him—including the last seven in a row.

I also can’t get on board with him as a top-level fighter until I see him take on someone I’ve heard of before. But that’s just business, man—it’s not personal.

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Can Shogun Rua Find His Former Pride Champion Self at Middleweight?

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has been fighting for over a decade and, while still fairly young at 32 years old, wins have been hard to come by.
On November 8, Rua took on late replacement Ovince St. Preux in a five-round, light heavyweight tilt at UFC Fight N…

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has been fighting for over a decade and, while still fairly young at 32 years old, wins have been hard to come by.

On November 8, Rua took on late replacement Ovince St. Preux in a five-round, light heavyweight tilt at UFC Fight Night 56. The results were disastrous. The Haitian finished Rua in dramatic fashion in the very first round, handing the Brazilian another TKO loss. The fight marked the first time in his career that he has suffered back-to-back TKO losses.

“I’m going to get through this loss, talk to my team and talk about the future, but defeats always suck,” said Rua at the post-fight presser, courtesy of MMAFighting.

When you haven’t put together consecutive wins in five years, some would say it’s time to go back to the drawing board. Fortunately for the former Pride champion, he still has time. Many fighters have enjoyed successful careers well into in their 30s and beyond—even native countryman and former rival Lyoto Machida. Like Machida, Rua will now contemplate whether it’s the weight class or his game plan that’s having such an ill effect on his career. 

He has competed at 205-pounds his entire MMA career, capturing the Pride and UFC 205-pound titles. Rua became a fan favorite by walking his opponents down and never shying away from a bloody battle. His wins in Pride—over Rampage Jackson and Alistair Overeem—helped launch the career of one of the best fighters the light heavyweight division has ever known.

Rua‘s success in Pride hasn’t translated to the UFC. He came into the promotion with a 16-2 record but has only mustered a 6-8 record since. In many of those losses—namely to Dan Henderson and Jon Jones—he has taken a beating. Could those painful uppercuts and knees finally be catching up to him?

Rua‘s skills haven’t evolved like those of his 205-pound competitors. This is not to say that he’s not capable of altering his game plan—he is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Antonio Schembri—but that he prefers to stand and trade. Rua lacks the speed and footwork shown by other light heavyweights like Jones or Alexander Gustafsson. He often welcomes shots and gives his opponents an easy target. His last opponent begs to differ. 

“I don’t think he was slow at all,” St. Preux told MMAFighting. “I think he mistook my reach, so I was able to catch him. … He hit me with a couple of good leg kicks.”

It will take more than a couple of good leg kicks to defeat the best at light heavyweight. If it’s not his speed, then maybe it’s the quality of opponents Rua is facing. He has lost to several of the 205-pound division’s hottest names, including the champion Jones, Machida, Dan Henderson and Gustafsson. St. Preux would be the first non-top-10 opponent the Brazilian has faced. 

Still, there is cause for concern over the steep decline at a relatively young fighting age. Rua has fought 32 times thus far in his career, which is more fights than similar fighters like Machida, Henderson, Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping had fought in before the age of 32. The difference between Rua and those men, though, is that he began fighting before his 20th birthday. 

Rua has also been knocked out at least two more times than any of those men have been in their whole career. Furthermore, he has been on the losing end of two destructive Fight of the Night performances against Hendo. All of this is a lot to take in if you’re the Brazilian, but to retire at this age would be a crime. 

“He might be the rare 32-year-old who sometimes looks and moves like he’s 45, but he came by it honestly,” said Ben Fowlkes of MMAJunkie. “If he hadn’t put himself through the horrors that diminished him, he wouldn’t be someone we knew or cared about enough to get sad over now.”

Erase the bouts with Henderson, Jones and Machida, and we probably aren’t talking about the same fighter. Maybe he becomes more hesitant and afraid to pull the trigger in fights. Maybe he doesn’t get past Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell and Mark Coleman en route to his eventual UFC title shot. Rua would’ve been regarded as nothing more than a Pride afterthought. Rua isn’t ready to retire like Liddell and Coleman were at the time.

The former light heavyweight champion could elect to drop down a weight class, like fellow Brazilians Demian Maia and Machida have done with success. The 185-pound division boasts a whole new suite of potential challengers, and it would also perhaps give Rua a quickness advantage (not to mention another chance for a title run).

A potential drawback is the change in weight class, which several well-known fighters (like Georges St-Pierre) have not exactly been open to. For one, it’s a difficult question to ask of a fighter who has fought his whole career in one division. There is also the question of health concerns. Rua cuts around 23 pounds to fight at middleweight. Tack on 15 more pounds and that decision becomes a lot more difficult—even more so when you account for the impact it has on your livelihood and family, because these men are fathers, husbands, sons and brothers too. 

It can affect the fighter’s mental state—even more so than his physical well-being. This becomes even more mind-numbing when you factor in an increasingly close fight coming up. 

Still, there are fighters who cut ridiculous amounts of weight out there. Jose Aldo and Benson Henderson have been known to cut around 25 pounds, sometimes just days out from the fight. But within the struggles a fighter has when trying to regain stamina come fight night, there lies the answer to the question of every fighter who’s contemplating a weight cut. That answer is to do it smartly. 

For Rua to make the cut to middleweight at this stage in his career, it would have to be done with extreme precaution. He’s at least considered it once before. Tim Kennedy, a potential future opponent, recently weighed in on whether or not the idea was a good one. 

What seemed like blatant trash talk could actually give the 185-pound division a marquee matchup. Kennedy is a solid all-around fighter with decent knockout power. He also defends takedowns and strikes very well. Ranked seventh in the division, Kennedy would give Rua a good barometer of how he factors into the landscape. 

Neither Rua nor Kennedy has displayed glaring holes in his game—though the Brazilian has a tendency to lower his hands and become a standstill target. Each man has fought wrestlers, jiu-jitsu artists and everyone in between. They are both coming off of disappointing knockout losses. A fight between the two would be beneficial for both parties and would send them off toward the title picture or even further into a cloudy abyss. 

For Rua, it will come down to the division he feels he has the best opportunity to win in. There are matchups with Brazilian bruisers Glover Teixeira and Fabio Maldonado at light heavyweight (if he were to declare that his home for good). Middleweight would be a tough place to call home, after all, with such a surplus of talent vying for contention. However, there is also a trilogy fight to be had with Machida.

His next fight won’t put him entirely in President Dana White‘s crosshairs, but it would raise a red flag. Could a third straight loss lead to a sitdown with White? What if he is finished in the first round again? Rua turns 33 on November 25. It is not quite the age Chuck Liddell was at when White made The Iceman quit, but age gets thrown out the window when you see one of the sport’s most legendary figures go down three brutal times in a row. 

Rua‘s path is a frighteningly clear one. He can prepare a more structured game plan, move down in weight or forgo the first two options. One more loss and perhaps we will see another former Pride fighter’s better days fade away, leaving him as nothing more than a mere caricature of the fighter that once was.

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Tim Kennedy Warns Shogun a Drop to Middleweight ‘Is a Very Bad Idea’

Top-10 UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy says that it would be a bad career move for former Pride and UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio Rua to cut down to 185 pounds. 
“Shogun,” who suffered the most one-sided loss of his career against Ovince St. P…

Top-10 UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy says that it would be a bad career move for former Pride and UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio Rua to cut down to 185 pounds. 

“Shogun,” who suffered the most one-sided loss of his career against Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 56, hinted that a cut to middleweight may be his next move in a Facebook post from Monday morning. 

Kennedy disagrees, based on this tweet from Monday afternoon saying that would not be a prudent decision. 

Rua, one of the most popular knockout artists from the Pride era, has lost four of his past five fights and is just 6-8 inside the Octagon since September 2007. 

A career light heavyweight through 32 professional fights, Rua has always been undersized for 205 pounds but has also been slow on the draw and has seen his chin deteriorate in recent years. 

Kennedy, the No. 7 middleweight in the UFC’s official rankings, is 4-1 in his past five bouts, losing his most recent contest against Yoel Romero in controversial fashion at UFC 178 in September. 

The Greg Jackson’s MMA standout does not have his next fight booked yet, so in the event Rua did decide to test the middleweight waters, Kennedy would be a realistic option to welcome him to the division. 

Of course, many pundits believe that Rua‘s opportunity to revitalize his career in a new weight class was over a long time ago and that retirement has been calling his name for ages now. 

Still, in the event that Rua does cut an additional 15 pounds for his next scrap inside the Octagon, would a showdown with Kennedy be worthwhile from a fan’s perspective?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua Says He Isn’t Done Yet, Hints at Weight Class Change

Despite losing four of his past five fights, including getting starched by up-and-comer Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 56 on Saturday, Mauricio Rua says he’s going to soldier on. 
In a Facebook post directed to his fans, “Shogun,” one of the …

Despite losing four of his past five fights, including getting starched by up-and-comer Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 56 on Saturday, Mauricio Rua says he’s going to soldier on. 

In a Facebook post directed to his fans, “Shogun,” one of the most famed competitors to step inside the Pride ring, said he is going to take some time off to regroup and consider switching weight classes. 

I made a techincal [sic] mistake, maybe due to anxiety and a big will to get this win in Brazil in such an important moment of my career, and I paid the price. Props to St. Preux, It’s part of the game and he deserved the win.

Now I will rest, enjoy my family and then think about my next steps, TUF Brazil, maybe a weight class change, but I’ll keep on going cause winning is easy, but keep on battling and overcome the obstacles is what makes a true fighter. Thank you all for the support.

Rua, who has 32 professional fights under his belt, suffered the quickest knockout of his career this weekend when OSP needed just 34 seconds to put him down and out. 

The revered Brazilian striker had nothing for the Strikeforce import, getting dropped to the canvas with a left hook, and he got caught coming in, swinging a big overhand right. 

Before Rua could even consider trying to recover, St. Preux swarmed him with vicious ground-and-pound, giving referee Mario Yamasaki no choice but to call it a fight. 

After recording a stellar 12-1 ledger under the Pride banner between October 2003 and February 2007, Rua has since compiled a paltry 6-8 mark inside the Octagon. 

Rua, who turns 33 on November 25, is a career light heavyweight who captured championship gold in both Pride and the UFC though has always been on the smaller side of the weight class. 

Therefore, a drop to 185 pounds is certainly not out of the question. The real question is, will it make a difference in how he performs on fight night?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Twitter Reactions to OSP’s Shocking TKO Win over Shogun Rua

A passionate and patriotic Brazilian crowd was reduced to silence at UFC Fight Night 56 as Ovince St. Preux made quick work of former light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
St. Preux, a budding light heavyweight contender, demonstra…

A passionate and patriotic Brazilian crowd was reduced to silence at UFC Fight Night 56 as Ovince St. Preux made quick work of former light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

St. Preux, a budding light heavyweight contender, demonstrated amazing technical maturity by casually sidestepping one of Shogun’s trademark looping punches and answering emphatically with a left hook.

A pen dropping could have penetrated the eerie silence that befell fans in the Ginasio Municipal Tancredo Neves as Shogun crumpled to the canvas. Like a shark in blood-filled waters, St. Preux hurried to put the finishing touches on Shogun with a few unanswered punches before the referee stepped in to stop the fight 34 seconds into the first round.

At the post-fight press conference, St. Preux admitted he was a little surprised by how quickly the fight ended.

“I thought I could win this on my feet. It’s bad to be aggressive against me,” St. Preux said. “I was a little surprised. When I landed the overhand, I said I might as well finish the fight. I was surprised.”

The word “surprised” could be considered an understatement based on these Twitter posts from pro fighters tuning into the event:

Despite being just 32 years old, Shogun is already the subject of retirement talk. The loss to St. Preux marks his sixth loss in his past nine fights and his second consecutive TKO loss this year.  

As for St. Preux, a dominant win over a former world champion is one way to bounce back from the decision loss he suffered at the hands of Ryan Bader in August. The former University of Tennessee linebacker appears to finally be finding comfort in the spotlight.

The rest of the light heavyweight division has officially been put on notice.  

 

Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.

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An Open Letter to Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua: Please Stop Fighting

Dear Mauricio,
May I call you Mauricio? Calling you by your first name seems a little weird because I have spent years referring to you by your last name and your nickname, pretty much exclusively. Calling you by your first name seems a little too pers…

Dear Mauricio,

May I call you Mauricio? Calling you by your first name seems a little weird because I have spent years referring to you by your last name and your nickname, pretty much exclusively. Calling you by your first name seems a little too personal, doesn’t it? But what I have to tell you today is quite personal, and so I suppose it is only fitting. Let’s go with Mauricio.

You don’t know me. I mean, we’ve seen each other many times over the years. I have interviewed you through various translators more times than I can count. I remember sitting down with you once, in Los Angeles, for a pre-fight interview. You were getting ready to challenge Lyoto Machida for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

I sat there in UFC’s makeshift media center and asked you questions. And while you waited for me to finish speaking, you smiled constantly and nodded your head in that way people who are nice tend to do when they do not understand the language someone is using. You answered my questions patiently. You were friendly. You were always friendly.

Which I guess is why I’m sitting here writing this letter to you on a Monday morning.

I saw your fight Saturday night, or at least I saw what there was of it. I’m sure you’d rather forget the whole thing ever happened. Me too, Mauricio. Me too. But I can’t forget.

Do you mind if I tell you a story? I think that if I tell you this story, you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

I have a friend who is a fighter. You’ve probably heard of him because most people have heard of him. He has been fighting for a long time. He used to be a world champion, in fact, and was considered one of the best fighters on the planet.

We became friends even though I’m not supposed to become friends with the people I cover. This is not exactly an acceptable thing when you do what I do for a living, Mauricio. But it happened anyway, and we’ve been friends for a long time.

You know what they say: You can’t pick your friends, but you can pick your nose? I’m going to be honest and tell you I have no idea if that is a real thing that real people say or if I just made it up. But it makes sense in my head.

So we’ve been friends for a long time, and like I was saying, he used to be really good. And he probably is still really good, down inside. Once a fighter, always a fighter, for the most part. But there was a moment years back when the wheels fell off for him. And, try as he might, he hasn’t been able to reattach them.

He keeps fighting today, Mauricio, because he wants to and because he has a need, deep down inside, to prove that he’s still capable of the things he used to do. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about this need. You have it inside yourself, too, because otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this letter.

And so he keeps fighting, but the chin isn’t there any more. The punches he used to walk through with fire in his eyes? Today, they either close his eyes or make him look lifelessly up at the lights. And I hate it. I’ve always been nervous when he fights, because friends tend to get nervous for friends. But these days, I am also filled with a sense of dread. It is as though I know what is coming, but I am powerless to stop it.

I want to tell him, Mauricio. I want to tell him that it is time to stop fighting. Did I mention that I’ve met his family? Because I have. And I suppose meeting his family really changed things for me. It made it real. Because at some point, all of this will be over, and what he’ll face left is his family. There won’t be any more lights and there won’t be any more fame. There will only be a family waiting for him at home.

I want to tell him, Mauricio, that it’s time to hang up the gloves. But I also feel like it is not my place to tell him that he needs to stop doing what he loves doing, just as I feel it isn’t my place to tell you the same thing. How do you tell a man to give up the only thing he’s ever loved to do simply because his body is betraying him?

I cannot tell him that. Or, perhaps I can, but I simply lack the courage to do so.

I want to tell you the same thing, Mauricio. I want to tell you that you have done enough. Your fighting life has been a life lived in full, and if you walked away right now, you’d be remembered as a legend and a pioneer and an all-time great. And nothing can ever take that away from you because you are Shogun!

You don’t need to stick around, and I don’t want you to stick around. I know the UFC is making a heavy push into Brazil, running cities with names like Uberlandia. They need Brazilian superstars they can run main events with, and you are certainly a Brazilian superstar. Even though you are just 6-8 since coming into the UFC, they’ll keep giving you main events because they need all the help they can get with these crazy international expansion plans.

Don’t get me wrong: The UFC sometimes has your best interests at heart. Dana White, for all of the nonsensical things he says and all of his bluster, actually does care about most of the people in his employ. He made Chuck Liddell stop fighting back when Chuck started getting knocked out on a regular basis. These days, Chuck’s talking voice sounds a whole lot different than it did when he started. If Dana didn’t make him stop fighting when he did, there’s a good chance we would not be able to understand a single word coming out of Chuck’s mouth.

I don’t want that for you, Mauricio.

We know so much more about the human brain today than we did even back when you started fighting. We know that it is not good when you’re knocked out. We know that guys who are regularly knocked out tend to become sad later in life, some of them extremely so. The NFL is a staple of American life that is trying to find its way in this new world. They don’t know where they’re going, and we don’t even know if the football we know and love will be around in twenty years.

But what we do know is this: We want to protect our athletes, especially when they refuse to protect themselves. And I don’t know if you fall in that category of athletes that won’t protect themselves, Mauricio. I hope you don’t. But I know that five or six years ago, the idea of someone named Ovince Saint Preux knocking you out with a short left hook while walking backwards? It would be preposterous. There’s no way the Shogun of old goes down like that. Just no way.

But you did go down, Mauricio. And I’m not saying you are being knocked out a lot, because you’ve only been knocked out three times since you made your UFC debut. That’s okay. But the scary part, for me, is that your last two fights have ended up with you unconscious, and that it seems a whole heck of a lot easier to knock you out than it used to be.

Like I was saying earlier, I can’t tell you to stop fighting. I can’t even tell my own friend to stop fighting, because it is not my place. I’ve met his family, and I know what awaits them in the future if he does not stop, and still I cannot tell him to quit.

I have not met your family. But I know you are kind and mostly gentle, and I don’t want you to spend your twilight years trying to remember your wife’s name. I don’t want you to struggle with anger and not even understand why you’re mad or depressed. It has happened far too often with our best athletes.

And Mauricio, you are one of the greats. We’ll never forget what you did in PRIDE, how ferocious and terrifying you were. Those days and those performances are etched in stone, and they’ll never be altered.

And what I’d like is for you to go home and live your life, secure in the knowledge that you don’t need any of this any more. You have the money. You still have your health. And you’ll always have the adoration of millions of mixed martial arts fans.

Please don’t fight again, Mauricio. You don’t have to do it any more.

Earnestly,

Jeremy Botter

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