Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
It appears Shogun Rua, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, is contemplating a drop down to the middleweight division. At light heavyweight, Rua hasn’t really had the best success, losing back-to-back bouts to Alexander Gustafsson and Chael Sonnen.
In both bouts, Rua didn’t really seem to put everything together, and he’s hoping that the move to the middleweight division will resurrect his fighting career. This news comes from Rua in an interview he did with MMA Weekly.
Currently, Rua is set to face James Te Huna, which will be an important light heavyweight bout for him to win. He’s in a must-win position right now, especially if he ever is thinking about making a run for the title again. Te Huna is a heavy-handed puncher, so he poses a serious threat to Rua, who is only getting older with each day.
A move to the middleweight division may be the best thing for him as he may have a strength advantage there, and he would be able to bring some unique jiu-jitsu skills to the table. Maybe he’s hoping for a potential trilogy fight with Lyoto Machida, who recently debuted at middleweight in impressive fashion, knocking out Mark Munoz in the first round.
Wherever Rua goes from here, he needs to take his next fight very seriously and he needs to dedicate himself in training. So, would Rua have success at middleweight? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Jeremy Green is a MMA and NFL contributor at RantSports. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus.
