With Conor McGregor taking a long hiatus from the Ultimate Fighting Championship to attend to his pregnant wife, a huge void in the mixed martial arts promotion is left. However, the return of Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua in the UFC might keep fans busy enough.
Rua, who last fought in May 2016, will be facing Gian Villante in front of his countrymen on March 11 at the UFC Fight Night 107 in Fortaleza, Brazil. 'Shogun' was supposed to fight in September 2016 but he said he suffered a "little" tendinitis that hindered him from training at his best form, MMA Fighting reported.
In November, the UFC asked Rua to fight in Sao Paolo but refrained from doing so as he was not in his 100 percent at that time. Now, the 35-year-old veteran will try to continue his two-fight winning streak from downing Antônio Rogério Nogueira and Corey Anderson against Villante. The former UFC light heavyweight champ's two-fight win streak is his first back-to-back victories since 2009 and he aims on extending that streak to three.
Rua, who places seventh in UFC.com's rankings, says he does not focus on the rankings and winning the belt and shifts his mindset to his opponent, noting that thinking about the belt might not get him motivated coming to his next fight. However, he shared that his "biggest dream" is winning the belt back he once held in 2010 at the expense of Lyoto Machida.
Based on Rua's fight history, he is using a balance between submissions (30 percent), striking (35 percent) and takedowns (35 percent). That versatility would keep Villante, who is coming off a technical knockout win over Saparbek Safarov, on his feet. Villante uses striking 75 percent in his fights and that is one thing the Brazilian has to look out for.
Villante, who stands 6-foot-3, has a slight height advantage over Rua (6'1") but the former champ has the veteran experience to match that disadvantage. Watch the video below for 'Shogun's highlights: