Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has gone public about why he didn't want to fight Glover Teixeira, telling Brazilian website Portal do Vale Tudo exactly why his camp turned down the fight that was suggested when Thiago Silva pulled out of the planned co-main event for UFC 149.
"I talked with my team and we decided that Glover would not be interesting now," Rua said. "Glover is a top fighter. I know him, I respect him, but he just got into the UFC. He needs to get more fights. I had nothing to gain with that fight."
This confirms exactly what SWR postulated when reports of Shogun turning down the fight initially surfaced. Teixeira is a beast of an opponent for just about anyone at 205 pounds, but because his visa issues have kept him out of the UFC, he's been fighting below the radar, making a win over him less valuable and a loss more damaging. One of Shogun's training partners knows the danger of this sort of situation very well
As Shogun trains for his next fight - against Brandon Vera in the main event of the UFC on Fox 4 Fight Card in Los Angeles on August 4 - he's in camp with Fabricio Werdum, who's scheduled to face Mike Russow next weekend at the UFC 147 fight card in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Werdum returned to the UFC earlier this year with a win over Roy Nelson at UFC 143, ending nearly four years away from the Octagon. That exile started with a loss to a then-unknown Junior dos Santos, the first fight of a UFC career that would take "Cigano" all the way to the UFC Heavyweight Championship. While no one is suggesting that Shogun would be cut with a loss to Teixeira, the parallels are there. Dos Santos made his reputation at Werdum's expense, and if Shogun is going to fight Teixeira at some point in the future - which he is open to - it will be after Teixeira has made his reputation.
The question now is who will be next to step into the Octagon with Teixeira. As previously suggested by SWR, look for a UFC veteran whose legacy is secure and won't have much to lose. Names like Stephan Bonnar, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vladimir Matyushenko would probably be most ideal.
After that, if he finds himself in the Octagon with Shogun, well, don't be too terribly surprised.
