"Shogun" Rua insists his knees played no role in loss to Jon Jones
Posted on August 19, 2011, 03:14 PM by Joey Santosus"Really, in the Jones fight, what happened was I got hurt early on and I was having some trouble finding the right distance in the fight. I was also getting tired, and throwing leg kicks spends a lot of energy which is why I didn’t throw so many of them, and there was also the risk of being taken down; it was a combination of factors which stopped me from performing at my best...Some people think I was out of shape and are worried about my knees still being hurt after I had so much trouble with them. That isn’t the case -- there’s nothing wrong with my knees, and they were 100 percent ready for that fight, as it was all cleared by the doctor.
One guy is going to win, one guy is going to lose -- but usually there are not only one or two things to evaluate as to what you could have done differently, but a combination of several things. I worked hard to correct those mistakes I made in the Jones fight ahead of this UFC Rio bout with Forrest Griffin." - For more from Mauricio Rua, visit ESPN.com
While many have questioned the form in which Mauricio Rua returned in for his title bout with Jon "Bones" Jones this past March, "Shogun" isn't one of them. In fact, the former Light Heavyweight champ stated that his knees played no role in the defeat, insisting Jones was simply the better fighter that night. Now slated to square off with Forrest Griffin at UFC 134, Rua gets an opportunity to avenge a loss and perhaps more importantly, prove he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level. So what do you think LowKick'ers? Will "Shogun" catapult himself back into the title mix with a victory in Rio or will Griffin play spoiler to the Brazilian's homecoming?
Further Reading: UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami In-Depth Preview
Photo: Forrest Griffin, left, fights Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 76 during a mixed martial arts match at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA on Saturday Sept. 22, 2007. Photo credit: Francis Specker
Comments
Shoguns awesome and showed some great sportsman ship, he knows what he did wrong that night and made no excuses, Jones was just the better man that night
If he loses to Shogun, it definitely cant be due to rust or bad knees. Im leaning with Forrest, the style is gonna negate Shoguns offense.
first off Shogun is one humble mofo and he is one of my top favorite fighters, im glad he said this though cause everyone always said jones beat a "rusty" shogun
one more thing Go Shogun! but i got no problem with forrest winning though
Definitely rooting for Shogun. He's always been one of my favorite fighters. I've been trying to grow a uni-brow in honor of him, but it's proving quite difficult.
i can see the rematch going exactly like the first one except forrest will win be Dec. and it will be FOTN
I'm fairly excited for this fight. Both guys need the win to prove the critics they still are in the top 10.
I really liked how Forrest looked in his last fight. Depending how Shogun comes out this fight could go either way.
Forrest by dec, although I'm hoping for Rua
Shogun is going to win by TKO in the early second. He's going to utilize those leg kicks this time around and get it.
hes also fighting a guy who uses more leg kicks then anyone in the UFC
I knew Shogun was going to lose to Jones after the knee and the year laid off, its just not possible to recover your shape in a few months
same thing happen to him in 2007, and thats why he lost to Forrest
Next fight barely won vs Coleman, then vs Chuck Shogun was coming back that was more than a year after the surgery
finally came back vs Machida but then again surgery/ injury
Shogun will need at least 2 more warm fights before we see the real Shogun , im afraid Forrest may beat him by over wrestling him
but next fight no matter who it is Shogun will be back in shape!
If forest outwrestles and otherwise dominates the fight will it take away from Jon Jones hype?
I don't think so, you have to consider that forrest has won against him before and jon jones also dominated a bunch of other great fighters. If the hype is valid or not is another question, I think that he has to beat a few more of the best lhw fighters before I'll consider him as good as people say he is.
well theres goes my theory out the window...
man... so humble.... just like Tito