Following his win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 190, MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is looking at another long-awaited PRIDE rematch for his next bout inside the UFC’s Octagon.
Shogun, who defeated Lil Nog on August 1, says he hopes to fight fellow MMA legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the first-quarter of 2016.
“I respect Rampage a lot, we always talk when we meet, but this is a fight that we both want,” said Shogun to MMAFighting.com. “The UFC wants it, fans want it as well. It’s inevitable. I just hope he’s free of his issues with Bellator. It would be nice to fight him again.”
Rua continued, “It’s been more than 10 years since that fight. His boxing is really great, as it already was in the past, so it’s going to be a tough fight/ Boxing is Rampage’s best weapon. He has a great boxing, with good uppercuts and hooks. He said multiple times he was hurt going into that fight, so he will have the chance to prove otherwise.”
While Rampage is riding a four-fight win streak, with some of those wins coming inside the Bellator cage, Shogun claims that the statistic doesn’t mean much to him.
“I think Bellator is in a different level, it’s not like the UFC. But I respect Rampage, for sure,” he said. “If we fight again, I know it’s going to be a tough fight, so I will be prepare for everything.”
