Mauricio Rua Believes Daniel Cormier Is The Real Champion, Not Jon Jones
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua knows what it’s like to be in the octagon with former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. The two fought at UFC 128 in 2011, which saw Jones win by third-round TKO. That event generated 490,000 PPV buys, which is not a bad payday.
Since that loss, Rua is 3-5 in his last eight bouts.
Four years later, Jones was stripped of that title following a car accident that involved him running a red light and crashing into a pregnant lady that resulted in breaking her arm. He now faces some serious legal charges for that. The UFC had to suspend Jones as well.
At UFC 187, the UFC had Daniel Cormier take on Anthony Johnson for the vacated championship and DC won. With the argument of who the real champion is in that division, Rua gave his take on the matter and sided with Cormier, not the man who beat him for the championship.
“I think Cormier’s the real champion,” Rua told MMAjunkie. “Jon Jones was punished, and he’s got to pay the price now.”
With Jones being suspended and his future in the sport is unknown, Rua says he would really like to see Jones return to the UFC.
“I would like to see him return,” Rua said. “He’s a guy that’s never been beaten, so I would like to see him come back.”
Rua meets Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the co-main event of this Saturday’s UFC 190 pay-per-view event.
