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#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.
