Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Underdog, and Under appreciated?

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Rua, 19-4 (3-2 in the UFC), will face what many people say is his biggest challenge of his career in Jon "Bones" Jones, who has dominated everyone he has faced. The problem is he has never faced anyone with the skill set of Rua. 

Rua was injured when he made his UFC debut, and sadly that has been what has held Shogun back. After his loss to Forrest Griffin, he was out for 14 months before returning and defeating Mark Coleman in a not too impressive performance.

After Coleman he had three more fights, defeating Chuck Liddell and Lyoto Machida(he was screwed over in the first bout with Machida). After winning the title from Machida, he had knee surgery and has been out of action for 10 months. By taking this break to recover, he may come back better than ever or come back not quite ready. If he wants to keep his title, he better be on his A-game.

Jon Jones is 12-1, with the 1 loss being by DQ. He truly has dominated everyone he has faced. In his most recent bout, he defeated then undefeated Ryan Bader. After the fight, the UFC offered him a chance to face Shogun for the championship, since his teammate, Rashad Evans, was injured. He quickly said yes and was instantly a favorite over Shogun.

Shogun has defeated the who's who of the Light Heavyweight division. He knocked out the current Strikeforce and Dream Heavyweight champion and winner of the 2010 K1 Grand Prix, Alistair Overeem. Jon Jones, on the other hand, has defeated Ryan Bader and Vladimir Matyushenko(which are not bad wins to have).

I understand why Jones is heavily favored, but is it fair to instantly count Shogun out? No. Shogun is 100 percent healthy going into this fight, and when fully healthy he has only lost one fight—losing to Babalu back in IFC in 2003.

Beating the elite in dominating fashion, and being the champion means you are the best. For Shogun to be the underdog and have people say he is going to be "destroyed" is ridiculous.

Yes, Shogun is coming off of an injury, but mark my words: "NEVER COUNT THIS MAN OUT OF A FIGHT." 

In all honesty this fight is truly a toss up, but keep in mind Shogun is one of the smartest fighters to ever fight. A win would solidify Shogun as the No.1 Light Heavyweight, and also a pound-for-pound top five fighter.

As for Jones, a loss won't hurt him. He is still very young and has a very bright future ahead of him. Though, a win for Jones would send his stock through the roof, and really shake up the pound-for-pound discussions.

Expect fireworks in this fight. How will Shogun react to Jones' excellent wrestling and size? How will Jones react towards Shogun's muay thai, and excellent Jiu Jitsu? Only one way to find out, and that's to watch on Saturday, March 19th, 2011 live on PPV.