I ett blogginlägg som lagts upp på ESPN:s hemsida, berättar den före detta UFC-mästaren i lätt tungvikt, Mauricio ”Shogun” Rua, för första gången om vad han anser vara skälet till att han förlorade sitt bälte till den stigande stjärnan Jon ”Bones” Jones på UFC 128 i mars.
Trots ryktena om att han inte återhämtat sig från sin knäoperation eller ringrost ska ha varit orsaken till förlusten, säger Shogun att det helt enkelt bara var en dålig kväll för honom och att matchen tyvärr inte utspelades som han ville, då han skadade sig tidigt i matchen.
“Really, in the Jones fight, what happened was I got hurt early on and I was having some trouble finding the right distance in the fight. I was also getting tired, and throwing leg kicks spends a lot of energy which is why I didn’t throw so many of them, and there was also the risk of being taken down; it was a combination of factors which stopped me from performing at my best. But whatever I did wrong in training for that fight, it doesn’t take Jones’s merits away and he was the better fighter that night. Some people think I was out of shape and are worried about my knees still being hurt after I had so much trouble with them. That isn’t the case — there’s nothing wrong with my knees, and they were 100 percent ready for that fight, as it was all cleared by the doctor. We made the biggest effort in doing my rehab as perfectly as possible and the UFC was kind enough to let me come back on a date that was proper to do it, according to the doctors. I have no injury excuses.”
Han pekar även ut att det är ovanligt att gå in i buren utan att ha några somhelst skador, hur små dem än är, men säger att på väg mot sin match mot Forrest Griffin på UFC 134 den 27 augusti, känner han att han är 100 % redo.
“As a professional fighter, you always have some injuries, even if they are minor. It’s impossible, or very rare, to go through a camp without any pain. Right now I’m 100 percent, without any injuries and ready to go, but we always have to work around pain and work around injuries, and as a fighter you are always trying to make the best of it.”
Källa:ESPN
Skriven av Daniel Darwiche
