The way of the Shogun: Battling Adversity (Part 1)

This is a look back at the career of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. To enhance the reading experience, try and read it as if the narrator from "Beyond the Glory" or "Cold Case Files" is reading it to you aloud.

Watching this guy come up the MMA ranks at the mere age of 21 was truly a pleasure to experience. It was fun, exciting, and intense at times. Almost like watching a young Ovechkin dangle an NHL defenceman, or seeing Lebron dunk on some poor center who accidentally wandered under the basket. Aside from an early career loss to fellow Brazilian Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua seemed like a young phenom staring down the road of a long and legendary career filled with accolades and championships.



He began his career by making a name for himself in PRIDE beating up on the local heroes of Japan. His opponents were completely outmatched, but it was great to see Shogun showoff all his tools. I wondered how he would do against some real competition. Then he got his first real test as he was given the opportunity to avenge his brothers loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, let's just say he made Rampage look like a fish on the dock. Next was Rodrigo Noguiera's twin brother Rogerio, followed by Allistair Overeem, and then a tournament Grand Prix win over Ricardo Arona. The sweetest thing about the Arona victory was that he was avenging the loss of his mentor Wanderlei Silva from earlier on in the night. Shogun thus captured the PRIDE LHW GP championship, a a very big deal in MMA. Fans were witnessing the "Next One" in MMA. I, like other fans at the time started to wonder how Shogun would fair against the likes of Mirko Cro Cop or maybe even Emelianenko Fedor. Yes, he was that good, that comparing him among the greatest fighters that were 30-40 pounds heavier was not a ridiculous thought.



What happened next was heartbreaking and made one squirmish. Shogun snapped his arm in a freak incident during his fight with Mark Coleman. A fight that was sort of a tune up to possibly prepare him for the Heavy Weight division. That would derail his career for up to a year, and it would be a long time before he ever looked the same again.


Let's fast forward some decent wins and some lackluster performances to his UFC debut. UFC 76, titled "The Funeral of Forrest Griffin" err sorry "The Knockout of Forrest Griffin" no sorry just simply titled "Knockout". PRIDE fans were salivating at the thought that Shogun was finally going to show all UFC fans and especially fans of Forrest Griffin's reality show - The Ultimate Fighter that were critical towards PRIDE and its fighters, what this Brazilian warrior was all about. Then something happened, 2 minutes into the first round and Forrest was still alive. 4 minutes in and wow Forrest is actually competitive. What was going on? The first round ended and Forrest's head was still attached to his neck. Forrest was doing well for the first 2 rounds and fans were absolutely stunned. Shogun looked so sloppy and out of shape in this fight, that people didn't even realize he won the first two rounds. People were expecting him to literally tee up Forrest's head like a football and punt it into the 9th row of the arena, the fact that Shogun somewhat controlled the first 2 rounds and didn't kill Forrest was a victory for Griffin in itself. The fact that Forrest was still breathing after 10 seconds into the fight was a victory for Forrest. Not to mention that Griffin was the crisper puncher, sharper fighter, and better conditioned. This was an upset of the ages as Forrest choked out Shogun Rua in the 3rd and final round with a rear naked.



Shogun then decided it was time to address his injured knees, it took over a year for Shogun to have two surgeries and rehab his knees before stepping back into the octagon. He cited not taking time out to address his knee issues earlier as reasons why he was so poorly conditioned in the Forrest fight.

Now its time for UFC 93 a rematch vs Mark Coleman, the man who according to himself, took Shogun down so hard that he broke his arm on sheer impact alone. Sorry I have to laugh a little, that was as freak of an accident in sports as there could be. I'll give Coleman a pass on this as I believe he's just trying to hype up the fight. OK, let's see Shogun make his 2nd comeback and his 2nd fight in the UFC, destroy Mark Coleman, and move on with his career....Not so fast. Wait a minute, here we go again, this is looking like deja vu. Shogun is looking...bad...again! What's going on? He's winning, but he looks bad. He is tired, weak, and very sloppy...again. He is serving up one of the most tired and unconditioned beat downs I have ever seen. Thank god Coleman is looking much worse and a lot more tired. Had Coleman filled up his tank and not left the locker room on reserve he may have been able to American wrestle his way to a victory. Anyways, Shogun wins as he knocks Coleman out in the 3rd round.


I'm starting to think Shogun is done. He is no longer the fighter he once was. No more brutality, no more sharpness, no more speed, no more conditioning. What was once suppose to be the next best thing in MMA is quickly turning into a sad tale of "what could have been". Beating Coleman in the manner he did was almost as bad as a loss for Shogun. It did more bad then good for his reputation. People were writing him off fast.

Within minutes of his victory, a very giddy and excited Dana White (besty of UFC fighter Chuck Liddell) storms into Shogun's locker room offering him a fight with Liddell at UFC 97 in Montreal exactly 3 months down the road. Chuck Liddell is coming off of one of the most devastating losses of his career - a KO from Rashad Evans and he is in need of a comeback fight to regain his popularity and relevance in the UFC title picture. What better than to feed Liddell a guy who used to be on top of the world, has looked terrible in his last two performances, and already fought a 3 round fight 3 months prior? Some might suggest that this was a set up to for Chuck. That Shogun was being fed to Liddell on a silver platter so that Liddell could comeback from a loss and be relevant again. Shogun would have no time off to heal any post-fight injuries from the Coleman event. He would have to leave the octagon fly back to Brazil and get right back into the gym to start training.

Here it is...UFC 97 vs Chuck Liddell. A part of me is praying Shogun wins, but deep inside I am just hoping Liddell knocks him out quick and fast, and Shogun doesn't suffer anything embarrassing. There's no way I see Shogun putting away the Iceman after his last 2 performances. No way! I just hope it's not a highlight reel KO, or I hope Shogun doesn't put up an embarrassing performance. The bar I am at is filled with Lidddell fans. Shogun's entrance begins and I am the only guy clapping and nodding. The place is silent. Liddell's entrance is the polar opposite, people cheering and clapping. Fight starts, Shogun is looking good, crisp, and conditioned. He's landing shots, avoiding shots, scoring take downs. He might just be able to pull off a decision victory. The last 2 fights I had been left wondering what happened to the old Shogun? Now this fight I am wondering what happened to the poor conditioned sloppy Shogun? Shogun is owning Chuck Liddell. He looks faster, stronger, sharper... Then all of a sudden WAM! Liddell is floored to the canvas with a beautiful left hook, and Shogun pounces, about 7-10 hammerstrikes later the fight is stopped. WOW! Vintage. I'm the only guy in the bar standing and clapping, high fiving with the friends I am with who are a little too new to the sport to understand what just happened. The man is back! The look on Dana White's face sitting cage side is priceless. Nobody saw this coming. Liddell is sitting on his stool asking "what just happened?" The return of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua just happened....



Part 2 continues tomorrow.

Here is an excerpt:

"...Bruce Buffer is now in the ring to announce the judges decision. The camera pans to Shogun who can't keep his smile contained. His camp is behind him and they're all smiling and talking and awaiting the announcement of the new UFC light heavyweight champion. There isn't a doubt in any of their minds that Shogun just won the title. Now the camera pans to Machida, and he looks defeated, he looks beaten, he looks sullen. His entire camp behind him are looking stunned and deflated with their heads down. They're probably thinking about what went wrong and how to fix the problem. How are they going to make their way back to the title again?"