The Verdict is in: Shogun to Reunite with Cordeiro at Kings MMA
Marcelo Alonso Apr 18, 2011
"Shogun" will reunite with his former trainer to prep for UFC
134. | Photo: Dave Mandel
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has made his decision.
The 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix winner and former UFC light heavyweight champion will reunite with longtime former mentor Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, Calif. Cordeiro made public his invitation for Shogun to rejoin him, as he prepares for his upcoming rematch with Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 “Rio” on Aug. 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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“I will make my training camp at Kings MMA because I have so much respect for Rafael Cordeiro,” Rua told Sherdog.com. “He invited me, and I agreed with him that it would be a good way to develop my game.”
Rua has not competed since UFC 128 in March, when he surrendered the light heavyweight championship to Jon Jones in a third-round technical knockout defeat at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Long considered one of the sport’s top fighters at 205 pounds, Rua’s career has been interrupted by three reconstructive knee surgeries. Still only 29, He holds a 3-3 mark inside the UFC. He enjoyed some of his greatest success under Cordeiro at the famed Chute Boxe Academy.
“He’s one of the best coaches ever in the history of MMA,” Rua said. “I’m going for him and for the other athletes there who are all great fighters, like Wanderlei Silva and Fabricio Werdum. I don’t know if Anderson Silva will be there, but the others are great.”
Colin Foster contributed to this report.
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