Winner of Mauricio Rua-Brandon Vera bout to challenge Jon Jones for title – UFC News
Dana White, UFC president, in a recent media interaction made a huge announcement by officially pronouncing the upcoming bout between Mauricio Rua and Brandon Vera as a light heavyweight title eliminator bout with the winner progressing towards a shot at
Jon Jones’ light heavyweight title.
With this proclamation, the intensity and significance of UFC on Fox 4’s main event has invigorated substantially. Rua and Vera are scheduled to meet at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, United States in a five-round non-title bout.
The pay-per-view will be televised live on Fox TV and will also witness Ryan Bader take on Lyoto Machida in a three-round non-title bout, co-headlining the main card. Dana recently attended a press conference where he talked about some rumours and the possible
future fights.
When asked about the rumour as to whether UFC is thinking of giving the winner of the upcoming Rua-Vera bout a shot at Jones gold, White explicitly said ‘Yes’. The hardcore White while seconding his decision commented that he believes Rua deserves a shot
again.
White was of the view that Mauricio has nailed almost every ace name in the division, adding that a win over Vera will just place him in the number two spot eventually making him eligible for a title bout.
Dana stated, “Rua just came off a ‘Fight of the Year’ last year. He’s probably one of the best fighters of the last decade. This guy knocked out ‘Rampage’ (Jackson), knocked out Chuck Liddell, knocked out Mark Coleman, knocked out Lyoto Machida, knocked
out Forrest Griffin, knocked out Alistair Overeem twice, submitted Kevin Randleman. A win vs. [Vera] puts him right back in position, and then he’s probably the No. 2 guy in the world.”
On the other hand, Vera who successfully broke his three-bout lose streak, thanked Dana for the title shot clause stating, “Like I said before, this is already a blessing in disguise, and by Dana throwing [the title shot] out there, it's like winning the
lottery twice.”
Rua, 30, will enter his 27th career bout, boasting 20 wins with a huge 17 coming by way of knockout. Although he is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Dan Henderson still everybody knows that the bout was epic and Shogun lost by just an inch.
The odds are in favour of Rua who not only possesses more experience but has also nailed some big names in the division. Vera must take this opportunity and work hard. If he is able to grab a win over Mauricio then it would definitely be considered as ‘upset
of the year’.
Tags: