UFC 128: What Does a Win over Jon Jones Mean for Shogun Rua's Legacy?

History revisionists be damned: If Mauricio "Shogun" Rua wins in his first title defense against Jon Jones, the importance will not be forgotten.

So easily in MMA the present can dictate the past.

It's not hard for fans to forget how shocking it was seeing Shogun get the better of the -500 favorite, Lyoto Machida, in their first fight at UFC 104—despite the controversial decision.

Similarly, it's not hard to forget how shocking it was to see Shogun knock out the -200 favorite Machida in the first round of their second fight at UFC 113.

But Shogun's two performances against Machida were monumental.

Five years after a 23-year-old Shogun became a PRIDE champion by consecutively besting Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona—knocking out Overeem and Arona on the same night—he was a UFC champion as well.

Shogun was a massive underdog to win the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix in 2005.

He was an underdog to beat Chuck Liddell at UFC 97, who he knocked out in the first round. If you were to ask the fans about it now, however, many would probably claim that Liddell was too old and Shogun was supposed to win.

Shogun was an underdog to win the title and now going into his first defense of the championship, he is an underdog once again.

Really, with the massive media train pushing Jon Jones to the forefront of MMA's image, this is to be expected.

Jones is a young fighter that has been displaying talent well beyond his years against veteran fighters, reminding the old-school fans of a young Vitor Belfort or B.J. Penn.

With that, however, comes an easy out. If Shogun handles Jones like he is very capable of doing, many will point to the age and experience difference and simply claim that Jones was too young for this big of a fight. That is unfair to Shogun.

Jones was old enough for Stephan Bonnar, Brandon Vera, Matt Hamill and Ryan Bader; he is old enough for Shogun.

And if Shogun can defend his title against the phenom that nobody has yet to even phase, it will be another upset in a career full of them.

Shogun's legacy is already secure. A loss to Jones cannot change what he has accomplished up to this point. But if he is to best another fighter that was previously seen as unstoppable—as many view Jones and many had viewed Machida—there should be no doubt that he is the best 205-pounder of all time.

Let's just try to not forget our view of Jones before the fight.

UFC 128: Shogun Rua vs. Jon Jones: Results, News and More