Shogun Back Possibly by February

It looks like Mauricio Shogun Rua will be back in action sooner than expected maybe as soon as February

It was reported to Sherdog that light heavyweight champion who is recovering from his knee surgery following his UFC 114 KO victory in the first round over Lyoto the Dragon Machida.

The UFC 114 main event was a rematch from UFC 104 where Machida took a controversial unanimous decision at back in the fall of 2009, and was one of the best five round wars that we have seen in a long time.  Here is what Shogun’s manager Eduardo Alonso told Sherdog.

“Off the top of my head, I think of the Super bowl card in February, but this is something that could change depending on his recovery schedule and the UFC’s business schedule. But the way things are going right now, I can tell you that he’ll be ready sooner than expected … But he’s very anxious because he’s such an active guy. He has great genetics, so his recovery is going great. The challenge for us as a team has been to hold him back and make sure he takes his time. Honestly, we don’t mind talk of interim titles, because this is the UFC’s decision and not ours. Shogun has the belt and it means a lot to him and he’s the legit UFC champion right now. If the UFC decides to set up an interim title for other fighters, it’s not really for us to evaluate this. Each manager is really trying to push his fighter’s best interests. The way we see it, unless a champion retires, the interim champion is just another contender.”

Shogun and his manager are not opposed to an interim title fight between Suga Rashad Evan and whoever the UFC deems as his opponent. Shogun is proud of his belt and he knows who’s the real champion is.  One option is Evans vs. Machida to crown a interim champion, and the winner will fight Shogun.  This however may not happen as Evans has stated that he is more than happy to wait for Shogun.