Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua was truly disappointed with his recent controversial unanimous decision loss to Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida at UFC 104. Nonetheless, Rua was recently informed by his manager that he would be fighting Machida in an immediate rematch as promised by UFC President Dana White during the UFC 104 post-fight press conference. Just like White, many UFC fans around the world also believed that Rua was the true winner in their first encounter; however, the judges saw the fight differently and that is why a rematch was necessary in the eyes of many.
The former 2005 Pride Grand Prix middleweight champion confirmed the news, stating that he is scheduled to fight on May 1st in Montreal for the UFC light heavyweight title. Shogun has jumped right into training, while Machida continues to recover from a hand injury he sustained during their first fight.
From Shogun:
“I’m just going to start the preparation and let’s go there. The UFC has already confirmed with my manager that I will fight Lyoto again. It’s just missing to sign the contract but the verbal agreement is done. I still don’t think whether I will follow the same strategy rather than the formerly one. I’m going to sit down with the team to map it out. This rematch is much wished because it’s a title shot for the world championship. It’s my biggest interest. I’m sure worried to achieve my dream and the revenge comes on the second plan. I was choked for that loss against him, but Machida has no blame. The judges are the guilty who were the only three people in the world that understood he won the fight.”
