5 reasons why Shogun Rua should consider retirement immediately

Should former UFC champ Shogun Rua hang up his gloves?

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?

Ovince St. Preux def. Shogun Rua via SD (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) #UFC274

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

Shogun's legacy is under threat if he continues to fight and lose to lesser opponents

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.

Paul Craig taps out Shogun Rua due to strikes! 👋

@PCraigmma doing Scotland proud! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

#UFC255 https://t.co/5q3wRVIGXJ

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.