Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua talks about his first UFC title win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 113. Now, he’ll have to accomplish yet another difficult task which is to defend his belt against a very competitive and hungry 205-pound division. Shogun is prepared to take on whoever is next in line for a title shot, which means that he’ll have to be ready to take on the winner of the UFC 114 main event bout between Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Rashad ‘Sugar’ Evans.
Although Shogun gives Rampage a slight edge over Evans, he says that he’ll be ready to take on either fighter. The Brazilian champ will be training hard for all opponents including a possible future match-up against Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva.
From Mauricio Shogun:
“We don’t work so hard all year around, we have phases of training, it’s like a cycle. My team always takes care of everything but definitely, it’s going to be a new challenge for me to defend that belt, because it was a dream come true, I conquered it, and now I’m going to work on my mind to keep my motivation. It can be bad for me but I’m going to work hard so it doesn’t affect my performances. I think Rampage [will win], but it’s close to 50/50 to me. I’d say 55% for Rampage, 45% Rashad. To me Rampage or Rashad, it doesn’t make a difference, they are both top fighters. But a fight against Rampage would be good … for the pay-per-view. I’m a professional fighter, I never pick my opponents, I’d fight anyone. Anderson (Silva) can be a big challenge to my career, but I’m used to them.”
