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Friday, Aug 19, 2011

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua Says Knee Injury Played No Factor in Loss to Jon Jones

By FCF Staff

Heading into his upcoming August 27th rematch with Forrest Griffin, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is dismissing the idea that a lengthy layoff due to knee surgery prevented him from performing at his best when he lost the light-heavyweight title to Jon Jones this past March. The bout marked the first time Rua had competed since May, 2010, when he knocked out Lyoto Machida at UFC 133, and then was forced to the sidelines for several months because of his knee injury.

Although Jones dominated Rua throughout much of their UFC 128 bout, the decorated fighter claims in his ESPN blog that it was because he “got hurt early on” and was “having some trouble finding the right distance in the fight.” Rua went on to concede that he did fatigue in the fight, but that the health issues surrounding his knee prior, played no factor.

“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…”

Rua then added that he’s “100%” as he approaches his upcoming, UFC 134 bout with Griffin, which will take place nearly four years after the two initially met in September, 2007. Griffin submitted Rua with a third round, rear-naked-choke in the Pride vet’s UFC debut.

After the bout, Rua spent nearly 15 months on the sidelines due to another knee injury that required surgery.

During the 29-year-old-fighter’s time with the UFC, Rua has gone 3-3, with additional wins coming over Chuck Liddell and Mark Coleman. The Brazilian’s other Octagon loss took place in October, 2009, when he lost by unanimous decision to the aforementioned Machida.

 

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posted by FCF Staff @ 2:04 pm
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