Shogun Rua: Rampage turned down title shot

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In a recent interview with TATAME TV, the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Shogun Rua told them that Jonny “Bones” Jones wasn’t the first option as a replacement for Rashad Evans.

“The UFC thought in other alternatives, but it didn’t worked out. For some reason [Jackson] didn’t accept it”, Shogun said, talking about his upcoming fight against Jon Jones. “I’ll have to change my training because he’s a lot different from Rashad, much taller, and it’ll be a great challenge. He’s been surprising everybody in the UFC, defeated everybody with easy, and it’ll be a tough fight for me”, he stated.

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-4) was set to defend his UFC Light Heavyweight Title against Rashad Evans in New Jersey at UFC 128, but the fight was scrapped when Evans got injured in training. UFC officials decided moments before UFC 126 started that if Jon Jones (12-1) defeated Ryan Bader, they would offer him the shot at Rua’s belt. After Jones’ victory, both Shogun and Jones agreed to terms and it is confirmed that they will main-event “UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones”.

On Wrestling Observer Radio ($) Dave Meltzer confirmed that Jackson had turned down the match with Rua, and the reason behind the decision was that it would take him longer than six weeks to get into fighting shape. Apparently Jackson is currently walking around at 250Ibs.

Jon Kirschner is a young writer from New Jersey who watches mixed martial arts and kickboxing from around the world. Kirschner has been following MMA since 1998 and has been writing about it for 5 years. His work has appeared on Fox Sports and in SCRAPP! Fight Magazine.