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Many MMA observers have speculated about how Brandon Vera endded up being matched against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the main event at UFC on Fox 4 on Saturday night at Staples Center.

It turns out Rua passed on a fight against Brazilian bomber Glover Teixeira, who is the opponent the UFC pitched. Teixeira has a 14-fight winning streak, while Vera is 1-2 with one no-contest in his past four fights.

“It’s not that I was frustrated,” UFC president Dana White said on Thursday following the final pre-fight press conference at the JW Marriott. “If you look at ‘Shogun,’ this guy is one of the greatest fighters of the last decade, and it’s true. Look at the guys that he’s not only beat but annihilated. He just came off of knee surgery, fights Jon Jones, then goes right into a war with Dan Henderson. When you have a guy like ‘Shogun,’ and you know how it is with me, you don’t say no to fights. This is the UFC. Everybody here is tough and you don’t say no to fights. I respect ‘Shogun’ and he’s a guy you give a pass to. So I wasn’t aggravated with him.

Continue Reading » UFC on Fox 4 notes: ‘Shogun’ passed on Teixeira