UFC Fight Night 142: Shogun Rua turns back the clock to deliver vintage performance and comeback KO
What's the story?
UFC Hall of Famer and MMA legend, Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua delivered a masterful vintage performance as he finished rising Australian star Tyson Pedro in the 3rd round at UFC Fight Night 142. Shogun bounced back into the win column after this comeback victory and TKO f Tyson Pedro.
In case you didn't know
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Tyson Pedro battled out in a top-15 Light-Heavyweight matchup in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 142: Adelaide. Shogun, a veteran of the sport and an MMA legend at the age of 37 took on the rising Aussie star and a decade younger athlete, Tyson Pedro in front of a hostile home-crowd of Tyson Pedro.
Shogun had looked to be on track and on winning ways as he racked up a 3 fight win streak before losing his last fight to Anthony Smith in July and looked to return in the win column against the young blood of the 205 lbs division and fan favourite Pedro.
The heart of the matter
Shogun Rua and Tyson Pedro delivered a compelling and action packed contest at UFC Fight Night 142 and both men looked to engage right from the opening bell of the fight. The first round belonged to Pedro and the Aussie heavy hitter repeatedly tagged Shogun in the opening minutes of the fight. Pedro landed a huge knee to the head from the clinch which totally rocked Shogun and Pedro followed up with a barrage of strikes. The fight looked to be all but over but the veteran Rua weathered the storm and ended the round on his feet in what looked to be a 10-8 round for Pedro.
The second round was a completely different story as Rua switched up the game-plan and took Pedro down in the opening seconds of the fight and continued to grind and pound on Pedro the entire round. Pedro wasn't able to get up in the second round and couldn't land a single strike on Rua, as the Brazilian completely dominated the 2nd round in and scored a 10-8 round for himself.
Shogun landed a flush right hand in the opening seconds of the 3rd round and dropped Tyson Pedro with what looked to be a knee or ankle injury combined with the strike. Rua stormed over Pedro and pounded his way to the TKO victory at an official time of 43 seconds of the 3rd round.
What's next?
At 37 years of age, it's tough to predict what the future holds for the former Light Heavyweight Champion Shogun Rua; but after a vintage performance that he put on UFC Fight Night 142, we can certainly hope for bigger and better fights in the future. Rua had to battle adversity and was badly hurt in the first round although he still managed to rally back and get the finish in the 3rd, which proves that the old veteran still has gas left in his tank.
Rua was ranked no. 13 before coming in to this fight and can possibly hope to bounce back into top-10 and a possible main event slot against a fellow top-10 light heavyweight in the near future.