With Success Comes Failure: Why Shogun Rua's Title Reign Is Over

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua seems to have the worst luck in the world.

UFC President Dana White confirmed to MMAFighting.com last week that the 205lb champion would be sidelined for the rest of year due to knee surgery.

Rua suffered the injury during his rematch against Lyoto Machida this past year. White added that Rua is expected to be out until at least March 2011.

“Shogun” is no stranger to going under the knife. In 2007 Rua had to undergo knee surgery to repair an injury and it couldn’t have come at a worse time, as he was set to make his debut at UFC 76 vs. Forrest Griffin. Upon entering the fight, there was noticeably something wrong with Rua, who at the time many considered to be the top Light Heavyweight in the world.  

In the first round, Rua was landing effective shots on Griffin but suddenly he began to look sluggish. Every jab he threw seemed to pack less power.  Griffin got the takedown on Rua and started to smother him with shots to the face and body. Eventually both fighters managed to get back to their feet as the round came to a close.

As the fight wore on Rua’s hands dropped. Griffin pressed the action and picked the Brazilian apart. Rua’s gas tank was officially empty. By then Griffin took complete control of the match up and at one point took Rua’s back.

Rua was completely defenseless as Griffin sunk in the submission and was awarded the win in the third round via rear naked choke. This was one of the poorest performances of Rua’s career.

He had the opportunity to redeem himself when he was scheduled to face Chuck Liddell but he re-injured his knee. As a result, he was sidelined for all of 2008.  

In 2009 Shogun looked to get back to his winning ways and took on UFC Hall-of Famer Mark Coleman at UFC 93.  Although he got the win, it was another uninspiring performance from the former Pride star. He gassed in the first round again, and it wasn’t until the third round that he scored the TKO on Coleman. In fact, at one point Rua was so tired he had trouble applying a submission on the 46-year old. The win left more questions than answers for Rua.

He picked up another win later that year, knocking out Chuck Liddell at UFC 98. Rua blasted Liddell with a looping left hook that dropped the former light heavyweight champion. At that point, Rua was 2-1 inside the octagon.

The victory over Liddell was enough to earn a title shot against then-UFC Light-Heavy weight Champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 later that year, a fight that ended in controversy. While many fans felt Rua deserved the win, it was Machida who escaped with the victory and the belt around his waist.

An immediate rematch was scheduled for UFC 113 and this time it didn’t go to the judges scorecards, in fact it didn’t make it out of the first round. Rua finally found success as he captured the UFC Light-Heavyweight title and was atop the 205 lb division.

Fast forward a month and Shogun was set to make his first title defense against Rashad Evans, but another knee injury has forced him out of the bout.

At this point, it’s hard to figure out where Mauricio Rua’s career stands.

In the past two years Rua has undergone three knee surgeries. Each time he has returned from an injury he’s disappointed UFC fans. His two wins were over sub-par opponents in Mark Coleman and Chuck Liddell. His only other recognizable win was reclaiming the title over a 16-0 Lyoto Machida. Since his knee injury in 2007, Rua has only fought one credible opponent in the last three years.

So is it fair to say Rua’s best days are possibly behind him?

Rua is 28-years old and considering how much more dominant he was in Pride four years ago, he’s now at the age where most professional athletes reach their physical peak. Perhaps only time will tell.

However, if Rua is to return and put on another disappointing performance then the injury excuses will start to sound more tiresome and predictable, and UFC fans will start to sound less forgiving.

And by then a new star will begin to emerge with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua standing in the shadows. And his career too.