Who Should Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Face Next?
by Kelvin Hunt on Apr 20, 2009 9:06 AM EDT
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As I mentioned on yesterday, I pretty much thought that Chuck Liddell was going to take Shogun's head off at UFC 97. I haven't really seen many people talking about Shogun's performance, so I thought I'd chime in with some thoughts. Firstly, I think Shogun's performance was incredible simply because it was a do or die fight for him. Here you have a guy that should be in the prime of his career, was once the #1 ranked LHW in the world, and now he's the underdog against a guy that was almost 40 years old and 1-3 in his last four fights. The pressure to win must have been excruciating. However, even with all that I still have some reservations about the Shogun of old returning to form. While I'm glad he got the win, I would have liked to see how his conditioning would have fared if the fight had gone longer. It'll be interesting to see who the UFC decides to put Shogun up against next. They have plenty of options, but my #1 option would be Shogun Rua vs. Forrest Griffin 2 on the December card.
If this match takes place, it would be over two years since the first match. The matchup is marketable, with the UFC using the whole Shogun was coming off two knee surgeries angle. Plus, the first fight was competitive even with Shogun being out of action for so long. Forrest Griffin is fighting at Thiago Silva at UFC 101 in August. This gap in time would give Shogun the appropriate time to prepare and nix any conditioning problems that may still exist. It would also give Forrest Griffin time to recover from the Silva fight, and time for a proper training camp to prepare for Rua. By the way, I fully expect Griffin to thrash Thiago Silva if I hadn't mentioned it before. A win against Griffin would give Rua three wins in a row, and two wins over two top ten fighters that have huge followings with casual fans. Thus, putting him in prime contention for a title shot against either Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, or Rampage Jackson.
Who do you want to see Shogun face next and why?
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First of all
Thanks for finally shining some light on Shogun. Every site I go to is traumatized with boringSilva gate. lol I actually think this is a pretty sweet matchup. Shogun/Griffin II would be sweet for the UFC and both fighters, period. It would put either fighter back up in or near title contention. C’mon now we all know UFC has a huge boner for Forrest. It’s sickening I tell ya. lol But I actually think Rua takes this, if he comes in with his cardio in check. I actually think this fight with Chuck gave Shogun a ton of confidence and Shogun/Griffin II would be an all out war! Good shit man!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
Oh, didn’t even get into the confidence factor this win gave Shogun…I didn’t want this post to be too long…but yea….him being able to perform the way he did was big for him mentally.
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Exactly
Dude looked nervous as hell! lol What I want is that killer instince Shogun to be back. Have the confidence to work son!
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Apr 20, 2009 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions
yeah I think the winner of Forrest/Thiago should face Rua
by Charles Walker on Apr 20, 2009 10:22 AM EDT reply actions
Match-making is an interesting thing, and with the win I think Rua should have a tune-up fight (or as much as a fighter can be a tune-up in MMA). Houston Alexander would be a prime one to send him out of the UFC, or someone of that caliber. This allows Shogun to stay active and wait for the winner of important fights (Rampage – who is waiting for his title shot, Silva/Forrest, and possibly Rich Franklin should he get past Wanderlei).
ACCBiggz…welcome to MMA4Real. I thought about him having a tune up fight…but the reason why I didn’t say that is primarily because the time between now and a fight with Forrest in December would give him time to recover from this training camp…recoup…then have another great training camp to get back to where he was before the injuries…plus, you can’t risk tune up fights this day and age…just look at Josh Koshcheck/Paulo Thiago…
http://www.mmaforreal.com
GSPwner…welcome to MMA4Real….I wouldn’t want Shogun to fight Jardine…because he can make fighters look bad…lol…Cane..I think they should give him one more fringe contender type like Charles said….and Houston Alexander might be out after Gusmao…he’s pretty good on the ground….
http://www.mmaforreal.com
It probably would be…However, I don’t think there’s another fighter out there other that Forrest that benefits Shogun more from fighting and beating(not saying he would walk through Forrest or anything). I mean beating Houston Alexander wouldn’t do anything for his career…it’s a step back really IMO. So I would be cool with waiting for the Forrest fight, plus Shogun just came out and said he would like to fight Forrest next.
http://www.mmaforreal.com
I disagree it doesn’t do anything for Shogun. It keeps him fresh and forces him to train without an extended period of downtime, and it makes him (potentially) look good and makes that fight more marketable. Beating Chuck at this point doesn’t do just that as the casual fan still has questions about Rua. I think one tune-up fight in August or September would be beneficial to him.
Of course, which is why I didn’t mention him. I’ve just heard that name going around. Either way I won’t mind much, Rampage has the next shot - If Rua can win again I’d say he and Forrest both have big money matches against whoever the champion is, especially Rampage (very unlikely - I don’t see how he beats Machida especially).
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