Mauricio Rua: A final showdown with Quinton Jackson before retirement necessary – UFC news
Mauricio Rua, Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC’s) top-ranked light heavyweight, believes that a second bout with Quinton Jackson will happen, if not now then at least before they both retire, adding that the final showdown will take place to decide
who the best among the two is.
Rua and Jackson are considered as elite brawlers and have even held the UFC light heavyweight gold. Interestingly both men have formerly fought in the Japanese mixed martial art promotion ‘Pride Fighting Championship’ where they met in a pay-per-view by
the name Pride Total Elimination in year 2005.
The three-round brawl ended in just the first round when Rua totally knocked the senses out of Jackson and since then both men have never stood in the same octagon against each other.
While giving an interview Rua said that he is ready to take on any one whether its Ryan Bader, or Dan Henderson, Quinton Jackson or Rich Franklin, the fact is he is ready to take on each and every opponent but there is just one name that keeps on popping
in his mind, Quinton Jackson.
The Brazilian 30-year-old, who has been in a total 26 mixed martial art bouts and has won 20 of them, said that he has complete respect for Quinton adding that Jackson will also love to take him on one more time since he also knows the significance of this
clash.
Rua, widely known as the ‘Shogun’, said that UFC also knows how stupendous the engagement might be for their brand revealing that both men are top class heavyweights and have taken on men who currently hold titles.
Mauricio comments were, “I don't discard Ryan Bader nor Rampage, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin. I guess there are many guys I could fight. The fight against Rampage will happen eventually. It's inevitable and UFC knows it. He won't retire before fighting
me and neither am I (laughs). I don't know if he got injured, if he was not feeling ok... It's hard to know, but Rampage is very professional and deserves to be respected.”
Rua said that he is currently training hard while keeping in mind the aspect that his upcoming opponent might be a hardcore challenger who is witty and talented. Shogun recently collected a unanimous loss against Dan Henderson in November 2011 and since
then has not entered the octagon again.
Quinton, infamous as the Rampage, has been in a whopping 42 mixed martial art brawls and has won 32 of them. He is currently on a two-bout loss streak and recently got nailed by Ryan Bader. Jackson is currently facing a knee injury which hampered his performance
at UFC 144.
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