Mauricio "Shogun" Rua attended his brother’s (Murilo "Ninja" Rua) Cage Rage 24 event in London, England this past Saturday. When interviewed, Shogun admitted that he would return to the octagon in April of 2008 for UFC 83. He did not tell his fans and the media who he would be facing, but he looked eager to fight once again.
Shogun fought Forrest Griffin at his UFC debut- UFC 76, and lost after complete exhaustion in the third round. Griffin used Shogun’s weariness to his advantage and slipped in a rear naked choke to defeat the once considered #2 lightweight fighter in the world. Shogun will try to bounce back with a win next year after Griffin ended his 4-fight winning streak. He seems to be doing much better from the surgery he recently went through after he suffered a torn ACL on his left knee.
“I know about my mistakes in the fight against Forrest, and I will
never use this surgery as an excuse for my loss; I have all the
responsibility for the bad result. Now I just want to look for the
future. I would like to thank all my fans that are supporting me in
this difficult moment and I promise you all that I will be back better
than ever. I know that I lost the first battle, but not the ‘war’ for
the UFC belt.”
