Time To Go, Shogun

Time To Go, Shogun
April 26, 2015
By Ryan Porzl

Mauricio Rua is a man who will go down in history as one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the sport known as Mixed Martial Arts. No doubt, the man affectionally known as "Shogun" is a shoo-in for the UFC Hall of Fame as well as a MMA Hall of Fame should one ever be created. His hitlist is a who's who in MMA. The promotions he's found success in are some of the biggest in the sports history. He's also one of the most popular fighters to ever fight. Sadly though, Rua is a mortal and his days of dominating are not only over but have been for a long, long time. Though only 33 years old, Shogun has competed for more than twelve years and the years of fighting, the wars he's had, and the brutal training have taken their toll. Along with bumps, bruises, and many injuries, Shogun has gone under the knife three times for his knee and his iron chin is a thing of the past. Sadly, inspite of all of this as well as pleas from family to call it quits, Shogun still believes he can still go. Even more sad are his fans who can be considered the most stubborn and supportive in all of MMA. To them, it's all so simple as he just needs to move down to middleweight and reunite with former head trainer Rafael Cordeiro as if that will be some sort of fountain of youth that will make him better than ever, cure his wear & tear, and harden his chin. Not many will like this article nor will it convince anyone to change their mind but I will explain why Shogun needs to retire and his fans need to realize the cold, hard truth that he's finished.



One of the things I've been hearing is Shogun moving down to middleweight and his fans acting as though it will rejuvenate his career. The problem is, it won't. In MMA's history, weight cutting seldom works to revive careers unless a fighter is moving down from a weight class they're too small to be in. Shogun's problems aren't that he's too small at light heavyweight. His problems are he's shot. Moving down to middleweight won't magically cure him, harden his chin, and heal his knee from the three surgeries. Then there's fans who have argued that Shogun will be faster which may be true. Problem is that so will his opponents which will negate the speed Shogun may gain. At this point, Shogun has a bad knee and doesn't need to be facing faster opponents that will more likely beat him to the punch.

Then there's fans hope that Shogun will have a rebirth by training with former trainer Rafael Cordeiro but that won't happen. While Cordeiro is a legendary MMA trainer, there's nothing more he can teach Shogun. MMA is a sport that's constantly evolving and if Shogun wants to have a comeback then he needs to evolve his training not go back to the past. Shogun would be better off training in a gym or with fighters who can teach him new tricks instead of him trying to turn back the clock with his former trainer. Worse of all, Cordeiro is well-known for his brutal training methods. When he ran Chute Boxe years ago, Cordeiro's training was him allowing Shogun and other Chute Boxe fighters to not spar but beat each senseless. They would wear no gloves or head gear and would proceed to act like they weren't training but that they were in a street fight. Cordeiro still uses that training method in his current gym which is Kings MMA. To the say the very least, that's the last type of training Shogun needs. Young, healthy fighters in their 20s can get away with it but not a 33 year old man who's done it, has been in wars, and who has wear and tear in his body. If Shogun tries that type of training then he likely lose as his body will not be able to recover like it once did and he'll come into fights banged up and not able to take much punishment. That type of training at this stage of his career will give Shogun a handicap not an advantage.

Then there's the middleweight division. Honestly, does Shogun realistically have a chance at beating the best UFC has to offer? The answer is: no. Outside of a puncher's chance, he has no chance. I look at UFC's best middleweights and there isn't anyone Shogun will outclass. Who is Shogun going to beat at middleweight? Weidman? Rockhold? Machida? Belfort? Jacare? Romero? Kennedy? Mousasi? Chris Weidman is a very good wrestler with knockout power and a great chin. If he can stay healthy then he would smash Shogun wherever the fight goes. Luke Rockhold would annihilate Shogun as he has power, is good with body shots, great on the ground, is a big middleweight, and strong. Shogun would receive a beating ten times worse then the one Machida just suffered. Speaking of Machida, he should've lost the first and did the second but third time will be the charm. In fact, it would probably be like the third Don Frye/Gary Goodridge fight where Machida, like Goodridge, not only wins but wins in less than a minute. Machida has only gotten better in the last five-six years while Shogun has only gotten worse. Belfort may be off TRT but he's still in far better shape and can knock Shogun into next week if OSP can knock Shogun out in less than 35 seconds. Jacare can toy with Shogun on the ground especially since Sonnen had a lot of success doing it and his striking has improved along with having a good chin. Romero is an Olympic level wrestler who shouldn't have problems with Shogun on the ground, he has a good chin, and packs a lot of power. Kennedy is a good wrestler and grinder who can control Shogun on the ground or in the clinch. Mousasi is a better striker, has a better chin, and packs power. While he has struggled on the ground, Shogun doesn't have the same grappling pedigree that Jacare Souza or King Mo have.

Finally, if there's any doubt in your mind about Shogun needing to retire then take a look at his record because it's not pretty. Indeed, since Shogun's big UFC Championship win five years ago, his record is 3-7. While I should point out that his losses are to top competition, his wins are against aging or middle of the pack fighters while he's looked awful in most of his losses. In fact, let's take a look at Shogun's record since his 2010 title win. His first fight back was a destructive loss to Jon Jones at UFC 128 on March 19, 2011. While Shogun was coming off a ten month layoff, a third knee surgery, and there's no shame in losing to Jones, it still was a bad loss as Shogun was no match. His next fight was a win over Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 on August 27, 2011 which saw Shogun avenging a loss from UFC 76 back on September 22, 2007. However, the win wasn't the best one as Griffin was clearly on the decline and was told moments before the fight that his wife was going into labor. Not to mention that Griffin was also near the end as he only fought one more time eleven months later when he defeated Tito Ortiz. He then lost to Dan Henderson in a classic fight at UFC 139 on November 19, 2011 that mostly saw him get clipped a few times and he only looked good in the last two rounds after Henderson got tired. Sorry Shogun fans but that fight wasn't a draw. Laying on an opponent for five minutes and not coming close to finishing does not equal a 10-8. If anything, Henderson should've got the 10-8 in round 3 as he was very close to finishing Shogun. In his next fight, Shogun then defeated Brandon Vera at UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera on August 4, 2012. Unfortunately, the performance wasn't good as Shogun had a much harder time then expected against Vera who wasn't considered to be in his league and it took Shogun nearly four rounds to finish Vera. His next fight saw him lose to Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz on December 8, 2012. While Gustafsson was a good prospect and future title contender, Shogun wasn't much of a threat and lost every round with one judge giving the fight a 30-26. His next fight was a loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC Fight Night: Sonnen vs. Shogun on August 17, 2013. The loss was easily one of the most embarrassing in his career as he was out wrestled and submitted to a guillotine choke. The loss also marked the first time in his legendary career that Shogun went on a losing streak. He bounced back with a win over James Te Huna at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Silva on December 7, 2013 with a knockout a minute in the first minute. The win though didn't do much for Shogun as Te Huna is not an elite fighter and sloppy at times. He then lost a rematch to Henderson at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Henderson 2 on March 23, 2014 and while Shogun had Henderson in trouble, he still got caught and lost by TKO. Finally, in his most recent fight, he lost to Ovince St. Preux by TKO in only 34 seconds at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. St. Preux on November 8th.

Like I said before, I don't expect to change anyone's minds but with all this talk lately on Shogun moving down, this article needs to be written. While stranger things have happened in MMA, Shogun and his fans shouldn't get their hopes up on an incredible comeback because it's not likely to happen. They need to accept that the good ol' days are over and the sooner he retires, the better we all are. Shogun has given us many great memories and has nothing left to prove. Retirement is unavoidable in every fighter. The question is does Shogun and his fans want him to retire now or after he becomes a new Chuck Liddell where he suffers some brutal knockouts and is forced to retire by his boss?