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This weekend at UFC 274, one fight that flew somewhat under the radar was Shogun Rua’s latest loss, this time at the hands of Ovince Saint Preux.
Shogun Rua is undoubtedly a legend of the UFC and of MMA in general, but at the age of 40, is it time for the Brazilian to finally hang his gloves up?
The truth is that for his own good, Rua should almost certainly not step inside the octagon again, unless it’s for an appearance prior to a Hall of Fame induction.
Here are five reasons why Shogun Rua should consider retirement immediately.
#5. Shogun Rua is damaging his legacy by continuing to fight
One of the biggest reasons that Shogun Rua ought to consider retirement immediately is the fact that he’s arguably damaging his legacy by continuing to fight so far past his prime.
It’s easy to forget, but prior to the rise of Jon Jones a decade ago, Shogun was widely considered the greatest 205-pound fighter of all time. The Brazilian shot to fame in Japan’s PRIDE organization in the mid-2000’s, winning the promotion’s 2005 middleweight grand prix, and picked up wins over the likes of Rampage Jackson and Alistair Overeem along the way.
In the UFC, meanwhile, despite a poor start to his tenure that saw him lose to Forrest Griffin, Shogun was able to rise back to the top of the promotion by beating Chuck Liddell before claiming the light heavyweight title from Lyoto Machida.
However, since losing the title to Jones in 2011, it’s basically all been downhill for the Brazilian. Sure, he’s picked up some big wins over the likes of Griffin and Brandon Vera, but he’s also suffered a lot of devastating losses, too.
Most recently, the former champ has been losing to fighters who, no offense to them, he probably would’ve rolled over in his prime with relative ease.
While it’s easy to gloss over these defeats, it’s also fair to suggest that by losing to the likes of Paul Craig and Ovince Saint Preux, Shogun is harming his legacy, just as other legends like B.J. Penn and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira did.
Therefore, if Shogun wants to keep what remains of his legacy intact, he ought to step away now, before the defeats really begin to rack up.
#4. Shogun Rua has already taken some serious damage over the years and doesn’t need to take any more
Everyone knows that MMA is a sport that does a ton of damage to an athlete’s body. Unsurprisingly, given he’s been fighting professionally since late 2002, Shogun Rua is no different.
At the age of 40, the Brazilian has taken a simply inhuman amount of damage over the years, both inside the octagon and ring and outside, too.
Fans will fondly remember his wild battles with fighters like Dan Henderson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Lyoto Machida and Alexander Gustafsson, but it’s fair to say that suffering six losses by knockout is no good for anyone.
More to the point, though, Shogun has also suffered some serious injuries over the years. His arm was famously snapped in his 2006 bout with Mark Coleman, he’s been through multiple knee surgeries, and given the style of sparring he once went through at the Chute Boxe academy, it’s probably fair to guess he’s suffered multiple concussions, too.
Given that the Brazilian is married and has a young daughter, at this stage – the age of 40 – Shogun ought to consider the good of his family as well as his own health, and step aside before he takes too much damage to really recover.
#3. Shogun Rua has no logical fights left in the lightheavyweight division
If there were still logical fights left for Shogun Rua in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, one could probably forgive him for wanting to continue to fight. However, that simply isn’t the case.
Shogun is no longer ranked in the top 10 at 205l pounds, meaning that there’d be little point in booking him against a prospect still climbing the ladder like Magomed Ankalaev or Aleksandar Rakic.
However, nearly all of his contemporaries have already stepped away from the UFC, meaning that there are also no ‘legends’ type fights available for him either. In fact, in the 205-pound division, only Ed Herman has been with the promotion longer than the Brazilian, and there’s certainly no money in that fight.
With that considered, it’s probably more understandable why the UFC booked him in a largely pointless rematch with Ovince Saint Preux, who knocked Shogun out in 2014, this past weekend. Basically, it’d be hard to justify him facing anyone else.
Essentially, then, there are no logical opponents remaining for Shogun Rua in the UFC at this stage, meaning he’d be best to simply hang up his gloves and walk away.
#2. The UFC now has little use for Shogun Rua
From Shogun Rua’s point of view, retirement is almost certainly the right call to make at this stage, but would the UFC agree? After all, we’ve seen numerous examples over the years of fighters stunning Dana White and company by walking away seemingly before the UFC wanted them to.
In this case, though, it’s likely that the UFC certainly wouldn’t frown upon Shogun hanging up his gloves. It sounds harsh, but the truth is that at this stage, the promotion probably has very little use for the Brazilian legend.
The UFC always loves to make bouts between aging veterans and young prospects in order for those prospects to build their names off the back of bigger stars. Unfortunately, no young prospect is likely to make a name from beating Shogun now. He’s simply too far past his prime.
Given that a win over Shogun doesn’t mean all that much these days, what else does he have to offer? From a UFC perspective, the answer is very little. He’s still one of the higher-paid fighters on the roster, but doesn’t really draw money, and a win over him won’t help to build a new star.
Therefore, the UFC would probably prefer him to step away. In this instance, they’d be justified.
#1. Shogun Rua has nothing left to prove
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of examples of fighters who hung on for too long, both inside and outside the UFC. However, in most cases, these aging veterans continued to fight because they felt like they still had something to prove.
Take Michael Bisping, for instance. ‘The Count’ arguably should’ve retired following his serious eye injury in 2013, but he still believed he could become the UFC middleweight champion. Unlike many other fighters, he actually achieved his goals in 2016.
The majority of fighters, however, fail miserably to prove their point and end up retiring in a far worse state than they might’ve done.
Unlike most fighters, though, Shogun Rua has absolutely nothing to prove. Not only did he hold titles in both PRIDE and the UFC, but he also holds wins over the best fighters of his era, including Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Chuck Liddell.
Essentially, the Brazilian reached the top of the mountain when he won the 2005 PRIDE grand prix. He then surprised most observers by reaching the summit for a second time when he claimed gold in the UFC, too.
Simply put, Shogun has absolutely nothing left to prove to the fans, and he should probably have nothing left to prove to himself, either. He’s up there with the greatest fighters of all time, and should hang his gloves up and be recognized as such.
