Should Shogun Rua Retire Or Go To Middleweight?
Shogun Rua made a brief appearance at UFC Fight Night 56, and it was hard to watch….
UFC light-heavyweight Mauricio Shogun Rua was part of a very short lived main event effort last night (Saturday November 8th 2014) as he took on Ovince St-Preux at the main event of UFC Fight Night 56. OSP landed a check left hook dropping Rua in the opening minute, and the inevitable finish was hard to watch.
Watching one of the greatest names in Pride FC get smashed with little more than 30 seconds transpired by a late replacement leaves an obvious question; is it time for Shogun to retire, or possibly make the move down to 185 pounds? At the age of 32, you could argue that there is still plenty more left in the tank, and Rua himself says he has a lot left to offer.
His performances in the last five years would beg to differ though; the Brazilian’s UFC record stands at 6-8, which is surprising considering he was 16-2 overall and on a four fight spree when he crossed over from Pride back in 2007. The sad fact is that due to injuries and surgery, as well as sub par performances, Shogun has only managed to string together two wins in a row at best, and only once back in 2009.
The Chute Box old school brawler has been finished in three of his last four fights, and two of those were particularly brutal. All that being said, I’ve always felt that Shogun Rua was too small for the 205-pound division. Former opponents Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson displayed that in their respective victories over Rua, and Ovince St-Preux reiterated that fact in Brazil.
So what’s next? Perhaps Shogun Rua needs to take a leaf out of former opponent Lyoto Machida’s book. “”The Dragon” made the drop to 185 pounds and looked a renewed fighter, earning a title shot after beating Gegard Mousasi and Mark Munoz. The apparent disadvantage that Rua suffers at lhw makes you wonder why he is still even in the weight class.
No one would argue if Shogun retired now, after all the classic moments he has given us, but I feel like there would be many unanswered questions. Obviously a fighter’s safety is paramount in this situation, and we’d hate to see Rua go down the path of his younger brother Murilo, although I feel he is already most of the way there.
Time seems to be catching up to many of the big names that helped build the sport, but Rua’s career really started to turn as soon as he joined the UFC, and he was just 25 at the time. Injuries, being undersized for his division and just plain bad match ups have somewhat left a smear on the tail end of Shogun Rua’s tenure as a fighter, and it is very sad to watch.
My opinion? I’d respect any choice at this stage, but I jut wish we’d seen Rua compete at his more suited weight of 185 pounds. What do you think?
