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Shogun out until March 2011

2K views 33 replies 22 participants last post by  BobbyCooper 
#1 ·
The next fight for the light heavyweight title in the UFC will pit champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua against top contender Rashad Evans, but it looks like that fight will have to wait until 2011.

UFC president Dana White, who said after Shogun's fight with Lyoto Machida that he was undergoing knee surgery, says that the champion is recovering well, but is likely out until next year.

"Shogun's great, his knee's coming along great, it's all good," said White. "He probably won't fight till next March."

Putting the fight back until March also puts Evans on the shelf for the rest of 2010, assuming the UFC wants to leave him as the top contender, while the rest of the division sorts itself out.

A rumored match-up between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was reported on Wednesday, but White put water on that fire saying they've made no decisions regarding the next round of fights for those involved.

The UFC president alluded to Jackson's continued work with promoting the "A-Team" movie overseas. Decisions will be made after he returns.

Other contenders like Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, and Rich Franklin will continue to battle it out and by the time Rua and Evans do go to battle, a new top dog in the division should be sorted out.
Source http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=11933&zoneid=13
 
#4 ·
Ug, no interim belt for the love of mercy. Strip Shogun of the belt or let him keep it, but interim belts are such a waste of freaking time.

Either there's a champ or there isn't - there's not halfie-champs.

I say let Shogun keep his belt and let the contenders continue to sort themselves out in one of the UFC's most competitive divisions.
 
#3 ·
For starters i really hope they allow the Rampage - Nog fight to go ahead, i think that would be excellent.

Secondly it is a shame that Shogun will be out for so long; i wonder if they will give Rashad another fight before then? Odds are that they will, unless he wants to sit it out until then.


I think i might be in love the LHW and HW divisions at the minute, there is just so much on the horizon.
 
#7 ·
I don't think Rashad should wait until March to fight in any event. He either needs to fight for an interim belt, he needs to fight for the real belt, or he needs to stay active against another top contender.

He could fight Bader, Nog, Couture or the winner of Jones v Matyushenko.
 
#8 ·
"Shogun's great, his knee's coming along great, it's all good," said White. "He probably won't fight till next March."

It's 'all good' that a champions out for 8months? Yeah it's just dandy Dana...
 
#9 ·
Shogun's career is done, what a great talent to whither away because of injuries, its sad to see. How long he has been out due to injuries since he joined the UFC in 2007? its gotta be a damn long time.

And dont expect to see a 100% shogun in his first match back, it basically took him a year to get to the level he was at against Machida from his previous knee injury.

This isnt some small knee scope like some people were saying when news first hit, 1 year is no simple knee surgery.
 
#12 ·
Perfect time for a mini tournament, rashad and Machida fight for title, and then you have nog/rampage winner fight Bones/mayushenko winner at 122 (end of December) for the right to fight rashad/Machida in feb/march with an ultimate unification with Shogun in may!!

Make it so Dana!!
 
#14 ·
Why is everyone so quick to want an interim champion? That means absolutely nothing in the world of MMA. It is just good for marketing a fight to have a "champion" and then when the real champ comes back to fight the "interim champ", they can sell it as 2 champions fighting each other. In the world of MMA, all the "interim champion" is is the #1 contender with a cool belt.
 
#23 ·
...Interim belt...unnecessary...

...The current UFC LHW rankings from MMAweekly are as follows:

1) Shogun
2) Machida
3) Evans
4) Rampage
5) Anderson
6) Lil' Nog
7) Griffin
8) Jones

...Anderson & Jones are busy at the moment. Most everyone else on the list has already fought each other except Rampage & Lil' Nog. I think Joe Silva needs to bring in Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin & Ryan Bader into the mix.

...Machida vs Belfort. Franklin vs. Griffin and Evans vs. Bader would be good, exciting, key match-ups...:thumbsup:
 
#24 ·
Franklin vs Griffin should definitely happen. Will be a great fight and a great win for Franklin to start climbing LHW. I would like to see Bader face some stiffer competition and see what hes made of. Page's future needs to be more clear, this movie crap is hurting the division.
 
#25 ·
I don't like the idea of an interim or stripping the belt. That being said I don't want Rashad out for that long either. A number one contender fight with Machida seems good but the possibility that Machida will beat Rashad is too great and the UFC does not want to have Shogun fight Machida three times in a row after many people think that Machida lost the first one too. The other possibility is to have Rashad fight someone else for a number one contender but I do not think anyone else deserves it right now... Would hate to be Joe Silva right now.
 
#30 ·
I think this sucks for everyone in the lhw division, mma fighters only have a few good years in there career's unless ofc ur Randy Couture but that's another story. Making others wait a year to defend your title is bs, I know this isn't Shogun's fault but an interim title should definitely emerge.
 
#33 ·
I sure hope Machida doesn't get the next shot at Shogun.

I'm a HUGE Machida fan, but I just saw them fight back to back two in a row, I'd like to see Shogun fight someone new. Machida would have fought roughly twice by that time probably, but still, I'd like to see Shogun defend it against someone new, rather than fight Machida again.

I really have no opinion on the interim belt vs. no interim belt, except, I don't really care. Either way you have your #1 contender when Shogun comes back.

I want Rashad to fight again during this time, meaning he wins again, and he keeps his #1 spot. If he fights Machida, he'll probably lose, so I'd rather that fight not happen until Rashad gets his shot at Shogun.

I don't know, I just want it to work out for Rashad to fight Shogun, that fight interests me a great deal.
Because they already had a N#1 contender fight.

Agree with you MC. I do not want to see Machida Shogun 3 for a while. I think Rashad can beat Machida, but the possiblity is too big for Machida to get a win and then Shogun fights machida 3 times in a row.
 
#32 ·
I sure hope Machida doesn't get the next shot at Shogun.

I'm a HUGE Machida fan, but I just saw them fight back to back two in a row, I'd like to see Shogun fight someone new. Machida would have fought roughly twice by that time probably, but still, I'd like to see Shogun defend it against someone new, rather than fight Machida again.

I really have no opinion on the interim belt vs. no interim belt, except, I don't really care. Either way you have your #1 contender when Shogun comes back.

I want Rashad to fight again during this time, meaning he wins again, and he keeps his #1 spot. If he fights Machida, he'll probably lose, so I'd rather that fight not happen until Rashad gets his shot at Shogun.

I don't know, I just want it to work out for Rashad to fight Shogun, that fight interests me a great deal.
 
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