On the heels of damaging losses, Top 15 light heavyweights Mauricio Rua and Ovince Saint Preux will look to get back into the win column against one another on Saturday.
In March, Shogun met Dan Henderson in a rematch. Despite knocking Henderson down m…
On the heels of damaging losses, Top 15 light heavyweights Mauricio Rua and Ovince Saint Preux will look to get back into the win column against one another on Saturday.
In March, Shogun met Dan Henderson in a rematch. Despite knocking Henderson down multiple times, Rua ultimately wound up on the losing end. As the Brazilian broke a clinch in the third round, he was cracked with a right hand and could not recover quickly enough to keep the bout going.
Carrying five straight wins into an August matchup with Ryan Bader, Saint Preux had an opportunity to become a serious contender at 205 pounds. Instead, he succumbed to Bader‘s wrestling, allowing nine takedowns en route to a decision loss.
As this pivotal bout between Rua and Saint Preux approaches, here is a look at how the noteworthy light heavyweights match up in all areas.
Before you get too excited — no, Silva and Rua will not be fighting each other at the end of the season. (Bummer.) So instead of using the show to hype up a rivalry, they’ll focus on passing on knowledge to younger fighters. As Silva stated in a press release:
“I think I can offer this next generation of Brazilian talent real insight into what it takes to succeed in the UFC. I will bring everything I know about the martial arts, and my own values of what it means to be a martial artist, to my team.”
Said Shogun:
(“Yes, baby, it is *so* normal.” / Photo via Getty)
Before you get too excited — no, Silva and Rua will not be fighting each other at the end of the season. (Bummer.) So instead of using the show to hype up a rivalry, they’ll focus on passing on knowledge to younger fighters. As Silva stated in a press release:
“I think I can offer this next generation of Brazilian talent real insight into what it takes to succeed in the UFC. I will bring everything I know about the martial arts, and my own values of what it means to be a martial artist, to my team.”
Said Shogun:
“To coach on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil is a dream come true, and an opportunity I wanted for a long time. To have my team compete against a team coached by a legend and former training partner like Anderson Silva makes it even better. Me and Anderson go a long way, training together back when we were both aiming to be stars, and to do this with him now on the biggest platform and having a chance to show people what MMA is really about is just amazing.”
Longtime former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Pride legend and former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua have been announced as the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4. The news was first announced on the UFC’s B…
Longtime former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Pride legend and former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua have been announced as the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4. The news was first announced on the UFC’s Brazilian website and was then discussed by UFC President Dana White on Twitter:
The next coaches for TUF Brazil are Anderson Silva and Shogun Rua!!! http://t.co/JkTplR1dQC
The news was broken Wednesday night and certainly comes as a surprise. Both Silva and Rua currently have fights lined up (Rua fights in the main event of UFC Fight Night 56 this coming Saturday, and Anderson Silva will fight Nick Diaz in January at UFC 183). However, while fans might be getting excited about the idea of two living legends facing off…not so fast. White was quick to state that they were not going to face off after:
They will not fight each other at the end of the season. They will fight different opponents.
The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil has been a solid success for the promotion and has featured Brazilian MMA royalty such as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva and VitorBelfort taking on coaching positions. The coaching selection from the show’s third season, however, was filled with controversy as ChaelSonnen and Wanderlei Silva were frequently at odds and had an odd, somewhat-scripted brawl on the set. The previously planned coaches’ fight never came to fruition, and bothfighters have been banned from competition by the Nevada State Athletic Commission since.
Details past the coaching selection, however, are sparse. The season will be taped in Las Vegas (previous seasons had all been taped in Brazil) at some point in 2015, but it is unknown which weight classes will be featured. Obviously, it is completely unknown whom Silva or Rua will face following the show.
Keep an eye out here for more news as it becomes available.
With just days ahead of the fight, British striker Jimi Manuwa has withdrawn from his UFC Fight Night 56 main event bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Taking his place is Strikeforce alumnus Ovince St. Preux. The news was announced by UFC President Dana …
With just days ahead of the fight, British striker JimiManuwa has withdrawn from his UFC Fight Night 56 main event bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Taking his place is Strikeforce alumnus Ovince St. Preux. The news was announced by UFC President Dana White on Twitter:
Jimmy Manuwa broke his foot for his Nov 8th fight with Shogun. So now Ovince St Preux will fight… http://t.co/dIZCmantuH
The news was announced Wednesday night, just three days ahead of the event. It’s a surprising, inconvenient turn for the UFC, but the event will lose little in the way of star power for the hometown crowd.
Manuwa, who has amassed an impressive 3-1 record in the UFC, suffered a broken foot in training. Manuwa most recently faced Alexander Gustafsson in March, losing via second-round knockout. Rua was a favorable matchup for the Englishman, but he will likely return to the shelf for the remainder of 2014.
Rua, meanwhile, is coming off a devastating March loss as well, getting knocked out by Dan Henderson in a battle between Pride legends. Rua has been on a serious skid since losing his belt to current champion Jon Jones in 2012 but has remained a fixture atop non-pay-per-view cards. In spite of losing his opponent on a few days’ notice, he maintains his spot atop the card.
St. Preux was previously slated to face FrancimarBarroso in the co-main event. A steady presence in Strikeforce, St. Preux earned a shot to crack the top 10 after a five-fight winning streak but fell short against Ryan Bader in August.
It is currently unclear what will happen with Barroso and what bout may be elevated into the co-main event spot.
UFC Fight Night 56 is slated to go down Saturday night on Fox Sports 1. Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available.
Few fighters in the history of mixed martial arts can match resumes with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
The MMA legend has won both Pride and UFC titles over the course of his storied career and traded leather with a collection of top-ranked talents and icons …
Few fighters in the history of mixed martial arts can match resumes with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
The MMA legend has won both Pride and UFC titles over the course of his storied career and traded leather with a collection of top-ranked talents and icons of the sport along the way. During the height of his popularity, Rua was widely recognized as the best middleweight fighter on the planet and one of the pound-for-pound best in the sport. And he had a violent highlight reel to back it up.
In the four years between 2003 and 2007, the Brazilian wrecking machine won 13 of his 14 appearances, with the sole loss coming by way of doctor stoppage due to a broken arm he suffered against former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman at Pride 31 in 2006. Over this period the former Chute Boxe standout brutalized Quinton “Rampage” Jackson with soccer kicks and knocked out eventual heavyweight juggernaut Alistair Overeem on two separate occasions.
While he would go on to find success in the UFC by claiming the light heavyweight title and earning showcase victories over Lyoto Machida and promotional superstar Chuck Liddell, the past three years haven’t yielded the success Rua has typically enjoyed. The 32-year-old Brazilian has won only three of his past eight outings and has dropped three of his last four affairs. Most recently, he was on the business end of a blistering knockout delivered by Dan Henderson in the second round of their tilt in March.
Although Rua was winning the bout before being dropped by Hendo, the end result was still another setback for a fighter who was becoming hardly recognizable to his former self. Following that loss, speculation of Rua’s retirement or dropping down a weight class began to spread throughout the MMA community, but the fighter wasn’t budging.
“I really don’t pay any mind or focus to what the critics say,” Rua told Bleacher Report with the assistance of a translator. “I never considered retiring at any moment. It never even crossed my mind. If I want to keep fighting, and the UFC still wants to have me, then why would I think about retiring or pay any attention to those comments? I believe I still have the skills to compete, and I don’t let any of that get to my head.”
Rua believes he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level of the sport and will put that notion to the test when he faces Jimi Manuwa at Fight Night 56 on Nov. 8. The British powerhouse is dangerous, but Rua is looking to prove he still belongs among the best in the UFC light heavyweight division.
“This is going to be a good fight for the crowd and the fans,” Rua said. “[Manuwa] is a good striker. He goes in there and tries to finish fights, and so do I. That is why I think it has all the tools to be an aggressive show for all the fans. I think it will be a great fight.
“I’m very happy to be fighting in Brazil and to be the main event. It has me very motivated to go out there and get the win.”
While Rua may not be giving any credence to retirement talk, one issue that will be impossible to avoid in the lead-up to his bout is his status as an elite fighter. All of his recent losses have come against top-level talent, but they have been losses nonetheless. For Rua to keep his place in the upper tier of the 205-pound weight class, he needs to turn things around in a big way, and he has to start with his upcoming tilt with the British slugger.
On the flip side, such is the state of the light heavyweight division that a fighter with Rua’s name recognition could be one win away from landing a high-profile matchup. His fighting style is pure excitement, and putting Shogun on a card is a guaranteed show. Yet, he will have to prove he still has what it takes, and that is his sole focus heading into Fight Night 56.
“I really don’t think about those things,” Rua said in regard to status and regaining title contention. “I don’t want to put any pressure on myself because my only focus is to go in there to do my best and fight. That’s what I’m obligated to do, and that’s what I think about. I don’t think outside of that because I’m not trying to make any additional pressure.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
All fighters age. Sometimes, even those in their prime lose a step or are unable to compete with today’s blend of diverse mixed martial artists. In fact, the following men—Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Frank Mir, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira…
All fighters age. Sometimes, even those in their prime lose a step or are unable to compete with today’s blend of diverse mixed martial artists. In fact, the following men—Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Frank Mir, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua—represent a group of fighters who at multiple points experienced greatness in the forms of championship titles and numerous other accolades.
However, in their last four bouts, the fighters in question collectively hold a record of 4-16. Their wide array of losses not only jeopardizes their ranking but their possible standing in the UFC as well.
Longtime former UFC middleweight champion