Shogun's camp details their decision not to face Jon Jones at UFC 152
Posted on August 27, 2012, 12:37 PM by Mike DrahotaIt came out last week that former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Mauricio Shogun Rua was offered the title shot against Jon Jones at UFC 152 in Toronto. Shogun ultimately turned down the fight, citing a lack of time to prepare for Jones. Lyoto Machida did the same, but Shogun as in a brutal war with Brandon Vera at UFC on Fox 4 , while Machida knocked out Ryan Bader without taking any real damage. Shogun's manager Julio Heller recently spoke up about the decision:
“We were in Sao Paulo and my phone rang about midnight. It was Lorenzo’s. Lorenzo was on another call, so I talked to him like half hour later. He offered me a rematch against Jon Jones because Lyoto had declined it and asked me to give him an answer in ten minutes. I hung up and Mauricio was there with me. We talked and called Dida in Curitiba and we got to a conclusion we should accept the rematch, but only if Shogun had a couple of months to train and it would mean a fight later in October or in November. I said that to Lorenzo but he said there was no time because Jon Jones’s fight is on September 22nd. Unfortunately, he couldn’t give us this time but he understood." - via Tatame.com
Obviously Shogun was willing to fight Jones with ample time to prepare, but that was not a luxury the UFC was able to offer at the time. The fight was just not going to happen after that, as Vitor Belfort stepped up on the short notice to face Jones. Hopefully Shogun and Jones will collide again, but Rua must first get past a tall task in Alexander Gustaffson this December. Heller continued on:
“Mauricio accepted at the time the new fight against Jon Jones. The ideal is a three-month camp but he said yes to a two-month camp fight. He wants to fight Jon Jones and it sucks it won’t happen now. But Mauricio’s shot will come. We’re going back to Curitiba on Monday and we’ll start the trainings for Shogun’s fight against Gustaffson. So, nothing’s changed.”
Will Shogun make it back to face the man who took his belt from him?
Comments
erly berd gets werm ha!
...gets the weak haha
His grammar makes me want to break glass.
weaked you ha!
Sorry bro, you weaked your own post it seems.
His grammar makes me want to eat glass
I wanna be like DG1 when I grow up! ha! Facepolm
sharped you diamond-mma2! now you noe for weeks to have for favor and is grate ha!
WOW so after doing over 1800 fights, 3 UFC fighters turn down fights in one week. Dana must be shocked and confused
He'll at least understand no-one wants to fight on a 8 day to 2 week notice....except Chael.
Technically Chael had notice 4 weeks before the fight, since he knew Hendo was injured 3 weeks before the news got out...
Go see the Hendo new interview, I made a reply there for you.
Camp decision was based off rewatching the first fight with Jones... they decided to turn down for a second time.
In all seriousness I will obviously watch a second fight between them but it doesn't do a whole lot for me - a green Jones smashed Shogun (at a time when his hype in the UFC was at its highest).... now Jones is 10x the fighter he was back then and Shogun hasn't fought at his peak since Machida (also looked unimpressive against Vera).
I would expect similar odds for this fight that Vitor is getting... and it would be realistic
I agree. I think Vitor would also murder Shogun
I think as more time passes Dana looks more and more like a whining jackass. Why does Jon Jones and Greg Jackson catch so much heat from Dana for turning down a fight but now guys are turning down a fight with Jon for the same reasons Jon didn't take the fight with Chael. It's amazing how much slack you get from fans when people like you.
I got tired of saying it, but a Shogun with healthy knees is a hard fight for anyone. His fight with Bones was absent leg kicks and thats just what Bones' chicken legs cant stand for too long. I think if he had come in as strong as he was against MachidaII, things would have been much different.. No-one here can tell me they dont notice the difference betweeen a healthy Rua and one with an injury.
The thing is this is the thing people say about Shogun every time, hoping he will be injury free. The fact is Shogun hasn't looked as good as he did in the Machida fights.... since he Machida fights. I don't know if it was the style match up which just really worked for him or if that just was the injury free Shogun doing work but either way we have been waiting on the old Shogun returning for over a year now and he is nowhere to be seen.
Actually I saw the real Shogun against forrest in their rematch also the heart he showed against Hendo, Shogun is not old and he can give Jones a lot of troubles now that he is fully aware of who he is facing. Plus please someone correct me if I am wrong but wasnt he suspended for 90 days for a hard fight against Vera?
I'll refresh your memory since Shogun has always been one of my favorites. He had just come out of knee surgery and his cardio was ZERO. He gassed in the first round, that was the end of it.
I dunno about the Forrest fight, he showed power and timing but that's it. He looked slower and sluggish than normal IMO
I lol'd when i saw Shogun's face in the main picture... you could caption this with so many things.
Shogun doesn't have to explain why he turned the fight down. He's a warrior but he got brutalized in that first fight...
Everyone in this day and age owes an explanation to the public. That's just the way it is.
I agree he that there is no need for him to excuse his actions, though.
*I agree with you that...
I meant that given the way the first went I think fans understood why he would turn down a Jones rematch without a full camp.
Im sorry to say it, but he would be finished in the first.
This just is.....Tank Abbott, Stephen Segal and a tag team of Mr. T and the Hulkster also turned down the chance to fight Jones.
The most important thing I got from this is that Lorenzo's a bitch. Who calls someone at midnight then tells them" hey I'm on another call hold on for 30 min" lol
@jmedno5891 - maybe so but if Lorenzo called you and I would both sit there and wait, texting our friends to let them know who were holding for.
Hopefully things like this help show people that proven warriors can say no to a fight on a months notice for very logical reasons, forget about a weeks notice.
Too bad it won't because people rather hate. If it don't include any negativity, it's unacceptable.
Shogun knows he will get destroyed again, that's why.
More speculation.
most guys jus care bout paycheck but obv shogun cares bout his fightin rep and ya he knos he cant beat jones in his prime so ya cant blame him but hav to question his confidence
every1 complain rampage lost his hunger but at least he fight any1 anytime and def wouldnt turn down a title shot bet that