Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has definitely seen better days.
In a rematch from their first fight that ended in a split draw, Shogun suffered a lopsided loss to Paul Craig at UFC 255 after he tapped out from strikes in the second round. While that was only Rua’s second loss in his past eight fights, UFC president Dana White would rather see the legendary Brazilian fade off into the sunset following a lackluster performance on Saturday night.
“I hope it is, I hope that tonight was his last night,” White said at the UFC 255 post-fight press conference. “I would like to see him retire.”
While the first fight between Shogun and Paul was a three-round war, the rematch was anything but close.
Craig largely dominated the contest before ultimately putting Shogun away with a barrage of unanswered punches. As impressive as that was, White can’t help but notice just how much Rua looked out of sorts prior to the finish.
“[Paul Craig] looked good and not to take anything away from him at all, he came and did what he had to do tonight but just being honest, Shogun didn’t look like Shogun to me tonight,” White said.
“Shogun looked old and looked like a shell of his former self tonight. Yeah, I’d like to see him hang it up hopefully.”
Despite the way his loss played out at UFC 255, Shogun had been enjoying a bit of career resurgence while picking up several impressive wins in recent years over the likes of Corey Anderson and Tyson Pedro. Unfortunately, Rua’s losses haven’t been pretty with his last four defeats all coming by way of knockout or TKO.
Ultimately the decision will remain with Rua whether or not he chooses to compete again but White would much rather see his career come to a close now versus later.
“I think he has two fights left on his deal,” White said about Rua’s UFC contract. “But yeah, I’d like to see him retire.”
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