UFC on FOX 4: Shogun Rua finishes Brandon Vera in a thriller
Posted on August 4, 2012, 09:48 PM by Anton GurevichFormer UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, has delivered another Fight of the Year performance, this time going toe-to-toe with Brandon "The Truth" Vera.
The fight opened with Brandon Vera delivering perfect striking combinations that forced Rua to take the action down to the canvas. Former champ controlled Vera from the top, but failed to do any significant damage. Vera looked sharp in stand up, hurting Shogun with kicks and punches.
However, things changed in Round 2. Mauricio Rua opened with powerful punches, pushing Vera back to the fence. Rua followed-up with more strikes at the fence, nearly finishing Brandon Vera in process. Bloodied-up Vera managed to survive the onslaught, responding with strikes of his own. Rua looked exhausted, as the action moved into the third round.
The pair continued to trade punches, with Vera getting advantage of Shogun's slow-down. Alliance MMA product looked more diverse on his feet, in a certain way reminding Jon Jones' reach-based style of fighting. But despite Vera's heart and determination to get the 'W', Shogun's experience proved to be the deciding factor.
Deep into Round 4, The Brazilian legend delivered a crushing striking combination that proved to be too much for Brandon Vera. The Truth crumbled down, forcing the referee to stop the action at 4:04 minutes into the fourth round.
Mauricio Rua is now 21-6 in his career, successfully bouncing back from defeat to Dan Henderson. Unfortunately for Rua fans, he will not get a title shot, after the UFC President Dana White announced post-fight on FOX that Lyoto Machida is next in line for Jones vs. Hendo winner.
Comments
What an awesome fight. Great performance from both fighters, total respect to Shogun and Vera for what was probably the best fight this year.
Great fight but by no means fight of the year
To each their own, I for one love a good slobber knocker.
Shogun was looking sloppy but still a good win, interested to see him fight again Thiago Silva would still be a great fight.
Shogun really needs to work on his cardio...fight would have easily been over if he didnt gas out so quick...happy Vera hung in there though good for him!
Yeah I don't understand why Shogun wasting his time by listening coaches and he just need to read your comments.
I really get the feeling that Shogun underestimated Vera. It seemed to me that Rua was expecting to KO Brandon in the first round, and was shocked to be losing the standup there. I was also trying to figure out if Vera's kicks and counter elbows had done a fair bit of damage, or if Shogun actually only had a round and a half in his gas tank. People might be able to figure out Brandon Vera and beat him on a consistent basis, but that doesn't mean that he won't kick the crap out of you if you take him lightly.
One thing for sure. If Rua showed up like that for a rematch with Jon Jones, he'd get beaten even faster than last time.
Very sloppy fight by bother fighters, but a good win for Shogun nonetheless.
both* fighters
What is the deal with Shogun.....He was out of gas after the 1st...no one can take punishment like him in LHW....his technique is top tier....he has the heart of a lion....he has all the experience he needs....come on homie get on top of a tread meal and off the churrasco!! wtf go make yourself some Anderson Silva Money!! Machida deserves the shot.
Sick fight!
The real Brandon Vera showed up tonight - good to see him, he has been away for a long time.
Mauricio Rua also showed up but in the place of 'Shogun'. I really want to know where the all-time great Shogun is?
He still had his raw power as always and delivered another beautiful KO but the road to the finish was anything but picturesque - slow speed for the get go and gassing after the first round.
If Rua wants a realistic go at the title he will need to rejuvenate himself and try to bring back the killer with lightning fast striking, that pounces on his opponent on the fast sight of waning.
I wonder if the numerous surgeries and wars are truly taking their toll on Shogun, maybe he did leave something more than his effort in that cage fighting Hendo... let's hope not.
if Shogun wants another title shot he needs a massive and intensive conditioning session... he cant be gassed just after the first round.... he is lucky Vera was not in good shape either... I really like shogun and I would love to see him kick Jones ass but men you need to improve your cardio big time
great fight though
I got the impression that Shogun actually hurt Vera pretty bad in the beginning of the second round and he never recovered fully for the rest of the fight, Less he was gassed and more that he was hurt. All things told hough, nohame to Vera. Given everyone's expectations of how this fight was going to go, I think that Vera looked better in defeat than Shogun looked with a win. Glad to see he's not completely washed up.
no harm*
dammit, no shame* >
Machida Karate baby!!! welcome back Mike Swick!!!
I hope Vera gets more fight and improve... Honestly he put up more of a fight than I was expecting.
I think people should stop saying things like "if shogun hadn not gassed vera would've got KO'd in the 2nd." because gassing has become a solid constant in his game. I doubt we will ever see him pushing the pace for 5 rounds again. same goes with BJ. and that's the reason why the won't ever be champions again. which is a shame IMO