Former UFC champions Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Glover Teixeira are scheduled to satisfy in a boxing match in the primary occasion of Spaten Combat Night time 3 on Aug. 29 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Shogun feels that is the right setting for his or her matchup.
Teixeira joined the UFC in 2012, when Rua was seeking to make a comeback at mild heavyweight after dropping his belt to Jon Jones, and was contemplating shifting up that 12 months. That by no means occurred and ‘The Common’ likes it that approach, although he wished to share the octagon with Teixeira.
“I actually thought I’d find yourself combating Glover within the UFC,” Rua informed MMA Combating. “However now in boxing, we’re doing it in Spaten, which is already the most important occasion in Brazil. In the long run, possibly it could have been higher if it did not occur within the UFC, so it occurred in Spaten. It is one thing new for the followers. MMA followers know that is the battle that everybody wished to see, so I truly suppose it was for the most effective that it occurred in Spaten and never within the UFC.”
The battle will lastly occur practically 14 years after UFC president Dana White mentioned Rua’s staff turned down the battle when he mentioned he would slightly be launched from the promotion than face Teixeira. Rua denied making these feedback on the time and nonetheless insists it made no sense to face a fellow Brazilian who was 1-0 within the UFC on the time.
“On the time, Glover wasn’t even within the rankings and I used to be within the high 5 within the UFC,” Rua mentioned. “Dana White informed me that if I received the subsequent match, I’d get one other title probability. If I had received towards Glover, I positively would not have gotten that probability. So my staff felt it was higher to not settle for the battle at that second. If the scenario was completely different, my staff would have accepted it unquestionably.”
Quick ahead to 2026, and these two veterans, each now round 45 years previous, will conflict in an eight-round heavyweight showdown. This isn’t an official boxing match, however an expert hybrid contest with knockouts allowed. Each left the UFC on the identical night time in January 2023, as Jamahal Hill defeated Teixeira in a championship match and Ihor Potieria stopped “Shogun.” Rua sees this as an opportunity to “hold up the gloves and at last have a farewell match,” though he refuses to substantiate that that is his official retirement match.
“The longer term is a thriller, so we do not know,” Lua mentioned. “I really imagine this shall be my final battle. I’ve all the time wished to battle in Spaten. I believe I am going to battle and really retire for good, however we’ll see. You by no means know what is going on to occur tomorrow, proper?”
Rua and Teixeira have mixed for practically 50 fights below the brilliant lights of the UFC, however Shogun believes Spaten Combat Night time affords one thing distinctive when in comparison with MMA’s high promotions. The martial arts occasion, promoted and funded by one of many world’s largest drinks corporations, shall be broadcast dwell on Brazil’s TV Globo and can “positively” get extra publicity.
“This provides us much more publicity than we’re used to in MMA,” Rua mentioned. “It is an excellent alternative for folks to get to know us and get to know our sport of martial arts. My largest motivation for competing in Spaten is to introduce folks to martial arts, the game, and who we’re.”
“There isn’t any query that the UFC as we speak is a really high-profile promotional occasion,” he continued. “It has been rising for years. However I believe we are able to attain people who find themselves used to being at house and have not actually watched the sport earlier than. I believe this can be a excellent second for us as we battle to indicate the human aspect of athletes. We work laborious to alter the notion of this sport. That is been my focus within the UFC as a result of I labored laborious, however typically issues occur that tarnish that picture. My purpose is to depart a legacy. Wins or losses are non permanent.”
Rua mentioned he “acquired into weightlifting” after his final UFC battle in 2023, however “combating is in my DNA.” Utilizing boxing gloves was a brand new expertise, so he moved to Curitiba to coach with Andre Dida and higher put together himself. Shogun, who at the moment weighs about 238 kilos, shall be lighter on August twenty ninth.
“Anybody who is aware of me is aware of I am all the time in search of a knockout,” Rua mentioned. “It is the identical with Glover. He is all the time in search of a knockout. Irrespective of who’s combating, he not often survives in a heavyweight battle.”
“In my view, we’re even. Neither of us has a bonus (in boxing).” “Most likely I’d have a bonus in Muay Thai, and he would have a bonus in Jiu-Jitsu. However in boxing, I do not suppose both of us has a bonus. We’re evenly matched. We’re about the identical age, and we retired on the identical day, so I believe we’re fairly evenly matched.”
