Shogun Rua Says He’d Consider Anderson Silva Fight
Anderson Silva vs Shogun Rua? Team mates fighting is always a tricky situation….
Former Pride FC middleweight and UFC light-heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua will step in to the arena of MMA combat for the 31st time this Saturday (Nov. 8th, 2014) as he squares off against Ovince St-Preux at UFC Fight Night 56. “Shogun” has had a long and illustrious career, but was oddly paired with Anderson Silva to coach TUF Brazil 4 recently.
Eyebrows were raised as “The Spider” and Rua will not be fighting at the end of their coaching stints, which is usually the format the show follows. The two have always said they wouldn’t fight each other, having started training together, but that may soon change. Check out what “Shogun” told MMAJunkie.com:
“I never even thought about fighting him. He’s a guy that I started out training with, and the UFC didn’t consider it, so I didn’t think about it.”
But when pressed on whether he would consider it if UFC officials decided it was a good idea, former UFC light heavyweight champ Rua gave a surprisingly simple answer – and he gave it in both his native Portuguese, as well as English. “Si,” Rua said. “Yes.”
It’s hard to see how this game will play out, but I’d imagine the UFC would push to make the fight if it proved marketable, which it probably would. At this stage though, Rua needs to remain focused on OSP for sure. “Shogun” then continued to discuss Silva:
“I’m very happy to be coaching ‘TUF’ with Anderson,” Rua said. “He’s an icon in the sport, so it’s a dream come true. I never said I wouldn’t fight him,” Rua said. “It’s something I’m not looking forward to. I’m not making an effort. But if the UFC suggested that, then I would.”
Interesting…and made even more so by the fact that many fans are calling for Rua to move to middleweight anyway. We’ll await word from the former middleweight champion’s camp now…..
