Shogun Rua and the UFC are back on the same page

Recently, Dana White stated that Mauricio Shogun Rua was taking the strong stance of rather being cut by the UFC than fight Glover Texeira. Texeira was considered as the next opponent for Rua after his original opponent Thiago Silva was injured before their UFC on Fox 4 bout. This seemed to have caused some controversy between White and Rua’s team, who ultimately settled on a fight with Brandon Vera as the event’s headliner. When asked about White’s insinuation, Rua’s manager Julio Heller stepped up to clarify the situation and dispel any notions of a rift between his prized fighter and the UFC, via MMAFighting.com:

“We want to look to the future, not the past. We have respect for Dana White and his opinion.”

These short, simple comments would suggest that Rua is not taking such a hard-headed stance on the subject, and would like to stay in the good graces of the world’s largest MMA organization. While White may have been angered by his apparent refusal to face Texeira, who returned to submit Kyle Kingsbury at UFC 146 in under two minutes, it now appears the two sides are on level ground.

Many thought that a fight with Texeira was a type of lose-lose situation for Rua where a win would do little for his case but a loss could be potentially devastating. It can be wholly argued that facing Brandon Vera is exactly the same thing. The acceptance of the Vera fight shows that Rua’s team wants to stay in the UFC and will work with them to book fights when injuries arise. Heller responded with a simple question when asked if Shogun would rather be cut than fight Texeira:

“What do you think?”

So the controversy surrounding Shogun has dissipated for now, and we will have to tune in on August 4th to see how one of the world’s best Light Heavyweights will perform.

Further Reading: Dana White talks Shogun Rua’s refusal to fight Glover Texeira, “worst ever” meeting with Brock Lesnar