Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, a top-ranked light heavyweight who made an unsuccessful Octagon debut against Forrest Griffin this past weekend, entered the fight with ligament damage in his knee.
The report comes from a Brazilian site, portal.rpc.com.br.
According to a translation of the story, Rua says he doesn’t want to use the injury as an excuse but does say that it hampered his training and conditioning for the UFC 76 fight, which took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Additionally, the injury will likely make him unavailable for the Dec. 29 UFC 79 fight card in Las Vegas.
In one of the year’s biggest upsets, Griffin, “The Ultimate Fighter 1” light-heavyweight winner,” cruised through the fight’s first two rounds before sinking in a third-round rear-naked choke of Rua. Rua, who had been considered a top contender in the UFC’s 205-pound division, appeared to tire long before the second round came to a close.
Oddly, the California State Athletic Commission made no mention of the injury in a post-fight medical exam. Rua was issued no medical suspension — not even a precautionary one (Griffin was suspended 60 days so he can heal a forehead laceration). However, the post-fight exams are usually brief, and if Rua didn’t offer up information about the injury, medical officials probably didn’t know to look for it.
There’s no word if the injury was worsened by Saturday’s fight, but the fighter will undergo surgery this Friday.
He doesn’t expect to return to training until January or February, the report states.
The report comes from a Brazilian site, portal.rpc.com.br.
According to a translation of the story, Rua says he doesn’t want to use the injury as an excuse but does say that it hampered his training and conditioning for the UFC 76 fight, which took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Additionally, the injury will likely make him unavailable for the Dec. 29 UFC 79 fight card in Las Vegas.
In one of the year’s biggest upsets, Griffin, “The Ultimate Fighter 1” light-heavyweight winner,” cruised through the fight’s first two rounds before sinking in a third-round rear-naked choke of Rua. Rua, who had been considered a top contender in the UFC’s 205-pound division, appeared to tire long before the second round came to a close.
Oddly, the California State Athletic Commission made no mention of the injury in a post-fight medical exam. Rua was issued no medical suspension — not even a precautionary one (Griffin was suspended 60 days so he can heal a forehead laceration). However, the post-fight exams are usually brief, and if Rua didn’t offer up information about the injury, medical officials probably didn’t know to look for it.
There’s no word if the injury was worsened by Saturday’s fight, but the fighter will undergo surgery this Friday.
He doesn’t expect to return to training until January or February, the report states.