Props: GracieMag.com
Quoteworthy:
“I respect him a lot as a fighter and I think he, besides being a warrior, is top of the category. I’ve been watching him since I started fighting. My fans can be sure I’ll be back at 100 percent. I’d like for him to wait and fight me at the end of the year. If I could choose who I’d fight on my return, it would be him, for sure, and I hope he accepts.”
Maurcio “Shogun” Rua — who is recovering from a bad knee injury that required surgery to repair — wants to next fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. Both 205-pound fighters were supposed to lock horns during the main event at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7. However, injuries to the fighters forced them both off the card. Liddell will more than likely be able to return to action much sooner than Rua because his injury was the less serious of the two (hamstring). Rua plans to return to training in three weeks.
119 Comments »
Chuck would destroy Rua
you prob said the same thing before he fought jardine.
No I didn’t, I’m actually not much of a Chuck fan, but Chuck is a horrible match up for Rua. He is a bigger guy, better striker, hits harder and Rua will not be able to take Chuck down. So I’ll say it again, Chuck would destroy Rua.
prob what people thought about rampage vs rua… i think chuck is prob fav too… but i actually think rua has the standup to beat chuck… he can take a punch too… which is why rampage was able to beat chuck… chuck does well against wrestlers… even when randy beat him he beat him on the feet… i think rua won’t even go for the takedown… and i def think he has the tools to beat chuck… whether he can avoid the counter right on the jaw or be able to take it like rampage does is another matter…
Yeah it seems like Lidells strikes dont bother Rampage whats-so-ever
here is the thing rampage has avery nice boxers stance so he can move with the strikes he sees them coming and you can brace for impact…chuck has always caught ppl in the middle of an exchange. while rampage doesnt hunt chuck he has lured him in all the time…i think with rua’s style very similar to wandy is gonna be hua down fall. he is gonna get caught by chuck…now thar chuck is refocused he has no longer gone to that over hand right fight anymore.
Believe it or not but they are making a major hollywood movie about the LIFE of Matt Hamil, being deaf and competing in wrestling….True story!
Isn’t it a little early for a life story? I thought he was only like 24 or somthing?
yeah sure for you cuz your not deaf at all…much easier for you..not a whole lot for ppl to deifne themselves on…the fact that he is in MMA and in the UFC above that and has seen really good success is amazing. in mma its essential to be able to stare at your opponent at all time and listen to your corner as well..hamill has to do with one or the other.
hey John you see the link/story sayingKimbo will fight Mike Tyson by end of the year. Sickening, what does it prove (if true)? he can beat up an old coked out tyson, or work his great ground game? If this is true, I’m disgusted at Gary Shaw
Good you finally caught up with the rest of us in our disgust for Gary Shaw.
I like shaw…lets guys fight and earn a livin ala Nick Diaz having 3 fights in 3 months. I just hate his shit talk like Kimbo is god, but keeps feeding him washed up has beens or never weres
Kevin: dont worry Tyson vs. Kimbo will never happen! I am positive about that!
Just go ahead Dana and Joe Silva and book this one. The fans want to see it as well….
Seems like all there is now is delays, delays, and more delays. I know injuries arent just a petty excuse or anything, but it just seems they are happening more often than usual. Plus TUF delays fights as well. Hopefully we will see less delays such as that if Affliction keeps coming out with kick ass cards.
chucks to old to wait he can fight twice befor the end of the year
Yeah, I hope Chuck takes the fight. But you can’t expect the man to miss a couple paydys just to wait to fight somebody.
I would love to see this fight. I think it would be a great stand up chess match.
LOL @ chess!! no disrespect though. its interesting how you chose that word. gonna be a great fight. i’m a fan of both. GO BOTH!!
Hey now, chess is a centuries old game of war played by all of the great military leaders (and chefs). lol
i like chess. just chess & shogun iceman fight connotation is funny to me. - i dont disagree, just funny.
I think Chuck can still fight before and lose and still fight Rua later own. I give Rua credit for calling him out.
This would be such an explosive fight. I can’t wait. they have to fight sooner or later…
This one would be fireworks. I’d also like to see Shogun/Ortiz. There are so many interesting matchups for Shogun and you pretty much can’t go wrong so I hope Shogun heals and gets back on the horse soon.
hard to call this one but shogun looked so gassed against forest so hopefully he comes ready to bang with the Iceman!
he had an injured knee… that was the worst rua you have ever seen. he would beat forrest 8/10 times otherwise… everyone has a bad day… gsp vs serra is case in point.
Sorry, but I call BS on that one. Give Forrest his respect.
I second that, yeah he had a knee injury, but he was still hanging his hands at his sides durring the second round. Does having a knee injury make your arms tired too?
no… but it gasses you out… you can’t train cardio like you would like to… and clearly cardio was his issue… i sincerely belief if he was fit he would have taken forrest. and yes… gassing out means your hands are by your side… its a classic sign of it… that and open mouth… which was due to poor cardio… due to his knee injury… we didnt even see his trademark knees that rampage knows all about… believe me… if arona, nog, rampage with their skill sets couldnt beat him forrest def can’t. watch him have another breakdown after the rampage fight.
You sound like a Forrest hater with that last comment. Stop making excuses for Rua. He lost. End of story. Give Forrest his props.
For the record, Forrest wasn’t 100% either, he needed shoulder surgery afterwards.
he lost fair and square… for sure… i just dont think if they were both fit that it would happen again… and i’m not a forrest hater… but lets be fair here… he doesn’t really deserve his title shot… an that does tick me off a little… lol… so maybe i am being a hater!
and i think liddell is the fav against rua too… i just wouldnt be at all surprised if rua won…
I would be a little surprised if Rua won. I don’t think it is wise to come back from a loss and 2 surgeries, on the same knee, and then face Liddell in the octagon.
Give Forest Respect over Shogun? Are you kidding? Look at shoguns history in pride and the battles he won. Yeah Forest beat him, but was is impressive? No not at all. Shogun used to fight multiple matches in a day without being winded. That definitely played a factor and on top of that Forest didnt do alot of damage to a winded fighter. Forest is an average fighter and thats it. Sorry
forrest had an injured shoulder. it didn’t seem to bother him. rua lost to griffin fair and square and will loss to chuck too.
Bad days be damned. Forrest SUBMITTED Shogun, so it doesn’t matter if the favorite ‘could’ beat the underdog 8 times out of 10, all that matters is when they did fight, Forrest came out on top, end of story. Likewise for GSP/Serra. Serra beat GSP definitively in the first fight and not even his subsequent destruction by St. Pierre takes that away from him.
Rua wants a win over a big name to move up the ladder.
Chuck needs a win against someone to put him in position for a title shot and Rua isn’t it.
shogun is on anyone’s list to be able to get a title shot, how do you think forrest got one? Shogun will be more than ready when he returns, and he’ll take the UFC belt in the near future (that’s right, I said it!).
Linx: I will back you up here for sure! Its inevitable that Shogun will one day hold the UFC LHW title, especially with how young he is! IMO, he is the only fighter currently capable of giving rampage a run for his title.
This is exactly why I love Shogun, coming off a serious injury and a loss, who does he want to fight? the UFC’s posterboy! U gotta love and respect that!
Chuck needs to accept his challenge! That has been a fight I wanted to see for about 3 years now…Man up Cucky! I am proud to call myself one of Shogun’s biggest fans!
John: Do you ever disagree with what Linx has to say??
Not if he is going to keep producing very intelligent posts…..If I feel the same way, should I argue with him for no reason…. linx knows his stuff, and I value his imput very much!
Chailink r u feeling neglected? Poor baby…. Thanks for the great comment! lol what a valuable contribution to this site!
Rua will NEVER hold the belt, unless he’s fighting in a lesser organization. The UFC LHW division is just too stalked.
Forrest tooled Rua in every aspect of their fight…just a sign of things to come for Rua
Chuck needs to fight quick…he cant be waiting around, in my opinion, he should have already fought again. At his age, its not like he stays in GREAT shape 24/7….hope his injury is healed up now, I say give Chuck someone to fight in August, and if he wins let him fight Shogun later this year, but I dont think that will happen. I’m thinking if Jardine beats Wanderlei then Jardine and Chuck II, will determine the next fight for the winner of Forrest vs. Rampage or something like that.
John, my comment was not a jab at you or Linx. You both have some great views on MMA and I enjoy reading your posts. I was just pointing out that you are always in agreement with Linx and was wondering if there ever was a post that you disagreed with him on. Just a joke, no feelings of neglect here.
In the future use this === >
it’s all good Chainlink, we have disagreed many times actually. Off the top of my head I remember once we disagreed about what was better to fight in, a cage or ring, I love the ring, he likes the cage more. I also think that wandy can take rampage today, he feels rampage will not lose to wandy nor shogun any time soon. We disagree in many topics, and agree in many others. I like John’s input in all threads, and respect his opinion a lot as I’m sure he likes to see what I write as well, but not always do we agree but we do respect each other’s opinion (at least I respect his).
Thanks for the props John, keep up the good work buddy! :p
Same to you Linx: We are a good example of what intelligent debating is all about! We tend do disagree but always in a respectful manner and I value is imput to the site very much….Do u Linx!
Shouldn’t they be able to fight in September.
I think Chuck should man up and do it, he fought so many ground gamers to build his career, I think yes.. and I think RUA would win it out of sheer pride, heart, and youth .. he has the skills too, and he doesn’t get enough credit from people just because of one loss on his wedding week.. lol
if chuck beats rua and silva beats jardin we will see a fight betwen chuck and rampage or silva and rampage
I would rather see Silva vs Rampage, but Chuck would be more deserving.
Shogun just doesn’t want to be forgotten, thats why he’s calling out Chuck. I don’t think he really wants to come back after an injury and fight Chuck. It’s more like keeping his name in the mix.
Yes that must be it. Or it must be the fact that he is a top fighter and has never ducked anyone and is always looking to establish himself as the main guy of the division. Yes my view makes more sense than your stupid comment. It would be more sensible for you to say such a comment about Chuck whos older than Shogun who is pretty much still at the start of his career.
My coment is stupid cause you don’t agree? We’ll see who he fights on his return, and we’ll just see who’s the stupid one.
He can fight Chuck and probably will, I disagree with the fact that you are saying that he is calling out Chuck because he doesnt want to be forgotten. Do you really think he will be forgotten in all honestly after all he has done for MMA? He is a top contender no matter what. He has beaten a bunch of top fighters including the current champ in convincing style. So as far as him being forgotten, you are being dilusional.
I don’t mean forgotten in that way. I mean that nobody is talking about him getting a title shot, theres no talk about him and Forrest 2. And thats what I mean about forgotten. But by him calling out Chuck, we are here talking about him “Right”
Fair anough then, if you meant forgotten as in a title contender then yes I do agree. But he needs to be looking for the bigger fighters in order to get to that title as soon as possible. Just a misunderstanding
i hope chuck fights someone else before shogun.
I think Chuck vs. Shogun would go perfect on the December card along with Mir/Nog.
I mean the December card is normally one of the biggest cards the UFC puts together, and I think you should throw in Chuck vs. Shogun for December and whoever is the number 1 light heavyweight contender against Rampage/Forrest on the same card.
That would be awesome.
and as well throw in Franklin vs. Henderson and you could have possibly a Pride vs. UFC card.
That would be sick!
So you want New Years Eve to be…
Mir vs Nog
Chuck vs Shogun
Rampage/Forrest winner vs #1 contender
Franklin vs Henderson
Your hired! Joe Silva clean out your s#@% now!
BNF: Realistically I think a proper card for the end of the year event would be:
Nog vs. Mir for the HW title
Rampage vs. Wanderlei 3 for the LHW title (assuming wandy beats Jardine
and Chuck vs. Forrest!
Why not stack the card like this at least once a year, Affliction is doing it and if the become a success, the UFC will have no choice but to beef up there fight cards!
You are 100% correct. They will have to stack AT LEAST 1 card a year to try and out shine Affliction.
I thought you would have put Machida in there before Wanderlei, but either way I’ll be watching.
And you really think Chuck vs. Forrest will happen? Chuck wants another title shot and the quickest route there will be to beat Shogun, so I believe he will wait for him to heal.
BNF: Correction…I ment to say Chuck vs. Shogun, mt bad!
Here’s my end of the year Main Card:
1. Mir vs. Nog
2. Winner Forrest/Rampage vs. winner Silva vs. Jardene
3. Hughes vs. Serra
4. Franklin vs. Henderson
5. Superfight- GSP vs. Anderson Silva @ a catch weight both agree on. I’m thinking 185. GSP wouldn’t have to cut and it would be a normal cut for the Spider, so they both should be healthy and ready at that weight.
Oh yeah, and maybe Chuck vs. Shogun
I think the UFC needs to stack the December card, it needs to be their eqivalant to WWE’s Wrestlemania. The number 1 show, that you know everybody is going to buy. (Yes I just made a WWE/MMA comment)
So if I could make the card I would have this
Mir vs. Nog Heavyweight Championship
Sean Sherk/BJ Penn Winner vs. Florian/Huerta Winner.
Rampage vs. Wanderlei *if Rampage loses and Wanderlei wins*
Henderson vs. Franklin
Hughes *if he wins* vs. Matt Serra
Now that would completely rake in the biggest amount of money.. EVER. You have 5 fights, that have some of the biggest buzz around it, you throw it into a 30,000+ venue, sell it out, and you would more than likely be able to put down Affliction, Elite XC, ect. This card would be the biggest revenue ever.
We have a winner! You forgot one though, what about Chuck vs. Shogun. Duh.
Well yeah, I figured if Rampage wins and Wanderlei loses, you stick Shogun/Liddell in there.
But yes indeed I did forget that. Apologizes.
That would be a great card. January’s card would really suck though. haha
Unlike a lot of other fighters, Liddell can afford to wait for Shogun, and he should.
The way it looks, the winner of Rampage/Griffin won’t fight till Jan/Feb 09. TUF shows are getting worse and worse, I know Dana needs a TV vehicle to promote UFC but that delays regular fights. Liddell vs Shogun would help out to sell the UFC event in December. Downside that is like 7 months away, if Machida beats Ortiz, that would make #1 contender but Jardine has to loose.
I don’t think beating Ortiz would be enough to make him the number 1 contender. If Jardine does win, that would certainly be enough. If Jardine loses, maybe then Machida can fight Jardine for number 1 contender, because one win isn’t enough for Wandy.
What is the main event for UFC 87 I hope its not Lesnar vs Coleman, that would suck period !!!
I could see GSP vs. Fitch happening as the main event.
everyone, or those that are, needs to quit making excuses for rua’s loss to forrest. he’s not.
If he was injured seriously enough he would have pulled out of the fight. He didnt, so he wasnt. Injured yes, seriously no. Like someone else said “hanging your hands after one round is because your knee hurts???” Forrest went to town that night, jesus christ, give the guy some respect, what did Forrest do wrong, nothing, would he have thought less of Rua for pulling out of the fight beforehand, NO! Forrest wouldnt have been like “HA, he better pull out, Im Forrest errugggh! He would have been thankful LOL! But Rua went in thinking this guys a chump and i can win with a kne injury regardless, so if anything hes an idiot at least, if nothing else, hes an idiot. Riminds me of a guy named, what was it . . . Oh yea Mirco something or other, thats what happens when you think your opponent is a cake walk and hes actually a man with a heart that beats just like yours. Cuts bleed on every man no mater who youve faught or what you’ve done in the past. Now Rua knows this and it wont happen again im sure. As for Mirco, he apperently didnt learn (Kongo) or just needed to be in a place where steroid testing isnt the new hip thing (Dream).
your getting better everday ADAM G. are you in journalism, if not you should be.
That is the motherf***ng word, yo !
Much respect to Forrest.
No, no journalism, took it in high school and was on that paper but that was 6 years ago LoL. I just LOVE MMA and try to not be bias and call spades spades. Dont get me wrong, i have my favs (BJ Penn) but if he fucks up id call him on it as well. If he would have cried “RIB” without posting the xrays/Dr’s reports 2 days later i wouldnt have baught that just cause i love ‘em, i would have said “F*CK, what the hell is wrong with you BJ, i waited for the rematch for hella long and this is how you do your fans you fat f*ck, put down the god damn twinkies, cut down the blunts and bong rips to once a week and get in the gym you chunk! Your the best so f*ckin be the best or your losing a fan and a big fan at that, maybe the biggest fan?” I just love conversing about all this stuff, its fun ya know. ALL you guys post bomb sh*t as well, i just try to earn your guy’s respect with some knowledge and unbias opinions. RESEARCH HELPS!! LoL, and “look eye, aways look eye” LoL
“Im Forrest errugggh!” LOL
Ya like that do ya, i try = ) Me Funny = )
I agree that Adam G posts very well thought out, and intelligent pieces. Very good job Adam. I’m trying to keep my posts as objective as you do, with the exception of your BJ posts…lol. Btw, I agree with EVERYTHING you have ever said about the fight with him and Sherk. That said, I have a few thoughts about some things you said about this fight. I’m not making excuses for Shogun, but he had a knee injury, which would have limited his conditioning training, as he didnt want to hurt it more seriously right before the fight. We all know that Forrest is a cardio FREAK. Also, a very skilled and well rounded fighter. He put on a pace that Shogun couldnt handle, and he wore him out, similar to what Sherk does, but Forrest is still an entertaining fighter…lol! I’m not saying that a healthy Shogun WOULD have beaten Forrest, but I think he would have put on a better showing. Also, Shogun may have had some nervousness, with people thinking that he’s gonna walk through guys, like he did to Rampage. I mean, the guys a kid! He’s 26 now and I think he was 25 then, and it was his 1st time in the octagon. As far as him beating Chuck, my heart says yes but my brain says no. I don’t think Rua can use his clinch against Chuck, and thats the key. Chuck is far too elusive to be eating knees all night. For this reason, I don’t see a Muay Thai fighter beating him. I think the key to beating Chuck is to push the pace hard, and wear him out. Did you see how hard he was breathing after the Wand fight? 2 more rounds, and I think he gets KO’d. Wand recovers very quickly, and I think he would have gotten it. (No I’m not making excuses for Wandy either). The first time Rampage beat Chuck, he wore him out first too. The problem is, when most guys (other than Rampage) push the pace against him, they end up getting KO’d! As far as Cro-Cop goes, well we’ve been through that. I will make one excuse for his loss to Kongo, and that is that he took at least 2 hard knees square to the groin. I’m not saying Cheick did it on purpose or anything, but CC dominated the first round, and then I think those shots hurt him. As far as him leaving for DREAM, I have no explanation. Maybe its ‘roids, maybe something else. I just hope I one day get to see MY dream striker matchup of Chuck vs. Cro-Cop (the OLD Cro-Cop). I doubt it though. I know CC won’t want to move down, but maybe Chuck will move up for one fight. Thoughts anyone?
Lets hope this fight is back in the UK, Chuck has made it known that he felt he let the UK fans (even though he couldnt have prevented what happened) and would like to still come over and fight, which really shows the mark of the man he is, not many fighters have that mentality to really care about the fans. Chuck, Shogun is an incredible fight one of the few “superfights” the UFC can make. Heres hoping its back in the UK where it should have been originally.
Prediction–Chuck KO but i would always say that!!!
I second that, Chuck needs to get over there and show you guys the ICEMAN show you deserve and Chuck/Shogun would be a hell of a lot better than Chuck/Rashad! You guys ae gettin lucky for the switch and the hammy injury LoL, Theres no way it could work out better for ya, and that would only be main or co main event status, you would still probably score an awesome main/undercard the way the fight rotation is going, maybe a GSP/Fitch or BJ Penn/?? to go with it if my rotations in my head are right. Lucky Ducks!!!
I hope the MMA gods heal his knees, we want to see that Rua from 2005-2006
AFFLICTION is having a live press confrence live on may 20 and i think again on may 22. may 20 for sure. maybee that will clear up some of the arlovski rumors.
I’m a Chuck fan and I would love to see this fight. Shogun is one of the best at Light HW and if he fights Chuck when he’s 100% then it will be a great fight. I feel Chuck needs to take this fight and I would like to see him fight a couple more big names as well as getting a 3rd shot at Rampage before his time is done.
Do people realize that injuries effect training? Of course the pain in his knee didn’t effect the way he held his arms up. But it did effect the CARDIO IN HIS TRAINING. I’m not saying that he would have won otherwise, I am just saying that he didn’t fight his kind of fight because he didn’t have the cardio to last. I hope wandy rips jardine a new one and moves on to rampage.
And I hope Chuck fights Shogun and drops him. I want to see shogun progress, but not against Liddell.
Chuck is the only guy out there that could lose twice in a row (Rampage, Jardine) and still be a main event (Wanderlei/Liddell Dec. 29)
he wasn’t the main even, Hughes vs GSP was….
Wasn’t it Goldberg that said that GSP was the welterweight that saved Christmas?
BJ lost twice and then main evented twice and the second was for a belt.
I dont know if you can count main eventing a TUF finale. Penn/Pulver 2 might not have been a Main Event on a PPV card. I would have paid for it, but I think it worked out best the way the did it. Chadx23, wasn’t the Wand/Chuck fight called a Co-main event?