Jones and Shogun at UFC press conference / Photo: Carlos Ozório
On March 19, two big names from the light heavyweight division in world MMA will face off for the UFC belt.
On one side of the octagon will be the seasoned Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, a man who marked an era during the days of Pride FC and who put an end to Lyoto Machida’s invincibility. On the other, Jon “Bones” Jones, a young man of 23 who out of thirteen fights counts but one loss, and one by disqualification at that.
Shogun hasn’t fought since May of 2010, when he took Machida’s title and had to go under the knife to treat an injury sustained during the effort.
“He deserves this chance more than anyone. I’ve been training, since I was going to face Rashad Evans, but he got injured out. They are similar-style fighters, so my training will carry on similarly. It’s not good being sidelined, since you lose a bit of pace, but I’m used to it,” remarks the current champion.
Jones found out about his title shot while still in the octagon, after a walk-in-the-park win over Ryan Bader at UFC 126 – Bader having been undefeated until then and even holding a win over Rogério Minotouro. The fight took place February 5 and, to the fighter, the short break between fights is no problem.
“I come from a wrestling background, and we competed the whole time. It was win and win, that’s what I was born to do. In the UFC we know we’ll fighter three times a year, but if I could, I’d fight every month,” he remarked to GRACIEMAG.
To hold you over till fight day, check out the video below: