Shogun’ Rua’s manager suggests 195-pound catchweight fight with Michael Bisping

http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/1/28/7927571/shogun-rua-michael-bisping-catchweight-fight-mma-news

With a 6-8 record in the UFC, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua might change a few things for his next fight.

Finished for the third time in the past four bouts after his last appearance against Ovince Saint Preux in November, "Shogun" could be heading down to middleweight. However, before cutting to 185 pounds, his manager Eduardo Alonso suggests a 195-catchweight bout first.

"I would really like to see ‘Shogun’ in a catchweight bout next," Alonso told PVT. "I suggested some names to the UFC, and I would like it to be at 195 pounds, like Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort did before dropping down. It would be a good way to test the weight cut, to see if he would perform better, how he would deal with the process, and if that would give him a new motivation."

The UFC will begin taping TUF: Brazil 4 next week in Las Vegas, and "Shogun" will coach the season alongside with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Being part of the reality show is another reason why Alonso wants "Shogun" in a catchweight bout before fighting at middleweight.

"‘Shogun’ cutting all the way down to 185 pounds without any tests would be complicated," he said. "He will be at the next TUF: Brazil, and then he will start his camp, so it might me complicated (to fight at 185 pounds), and maybe he will be forced to fight at 205 one more time. But if I could choose, it would be a 195-pound catchweight."

Longtime UFC veteran Michael Bisping, who started his UFC run as a light heavyweight before dropping down in weight in 2008, is set to take on C.B. Dollaway at UFC 186 in April, and Alonso is interested in a Rua vs. Bisping clash at 195 pounds.

"If I could choose, I’d love to see him fighting Michael Bisping," Alonso said. "Bisping has a fight coming up in April, so it’s too soon to imagine what’s next, and it’s not even set with the UFC yet if he’s really going to fight at catchweight or not."

The UFC has yet to announce if the TUF: Brazil 4 Finale event will take place in Brazil or not, and Rua’s manager suggests a soccer stadium event at the 44,000-seat Allianz Parque in Sao Paulo.

"I would love to see this event here in Sao Paulo, at Palmeiras’ soccer stadium," Alonso said. "It’s a great opportunity to have Anderson Silva fighting on the same card of ‘Shogun’ in a soccer stadium here in Brazil. We don’t know how many years Anderson Silva has left in his career. But only the UFC knows what they are planning to do."

YES! I need another Bisping highlight KO gif!

‏@bisping
I hear shoguns manager said shogun is interested in a fight with me at a catch weight of 195lbs. After my fight coming up, I'm in!!!

https://twitter.com/bisping/status/560466506535145472

As long as it's definitely a means to drop down to 185, I like it.
Hopefully it's not just Shogun trying to get a win and then going back up to 205 so he can get KOd again and continue with his mediocre, ongoing win-loss-win-loss-win-loss UFC career.

Yeah i will be the stand alone guy here and say i really hate this fight..........BIG TIME!!!!!!

I like this fight.

Wtf. If I were Bisping I would tell Shogun's lazy ass to lose the weight. There is NO reason why he cannot make 185. He is half Weidman's size. Cut out the twinkies, lose the fucking spare tire and take this seriously.

Rant over/

Gecko wrote:

Yeah i will be the stand alone guy here and say i really hate this fight..........BIG TIME!!!!!!

I would love this fight but Bisping is on my fantasy team and I dont want to lose 3 points...

I look at this fight as the same as when Bisping fought Henderson. If Bisping can get rua to chase him for a round or two and get rua tired i think bisping could actually take this. Problem i have seen lately is he is not as elusive as he once was and i see him getting caught more and more often with shots that the Bisping who fought leban,day,belcher,akiama would have never gotten caught with.

Prediction- Bisping gets caught in the 2nd for a RUA TKO victory.

Gecko wrote:

I look at this fight as the same as when Bisping fought Henderson.

When he fought Henderson, huh?
Hmmmm, I don't really remember what happened in that fight. Was it a particularly memorable ending to the fight or something? Maybe somebody could refresh my memory and explain what happened in that fight.
Oh! Or even better yet, maybe there's a gif or something floating around out there that somebody could find! It might take a little digging, but there's gotta be one somewhere!

Triggerman99 wrote:

Gecko wrote:

I look at this fight as the same as when Bisping fought Henderson.

When he fought Henderson, huh?
Hmmmm, I don't really remember what happened in that fight. Was it a particularly memorable ending to the fight or something? Maybe somebody could refresh my memory and explain what happened in that fight.
Oh! Or even better yet, maybe there's a gif or something floating around out there that somebody could find! It might take a little digging, but there's gotta be one somewhere!

Lol!

I might be crazy, but if Bisping were a big dog in this one I would put money on him. I think he could out box him for 3 rounds.

For sure. I'd pick Rua straight up, but would certainly put money on Bisping if he came in at +225 or more.

its actually a great match up on paper.
i dont know who would win.
would the drop in weight have an impact on ruas punching power?
would the extra weight hurt bispings cardio?
i could see bisping out boxing him and out working shogun but i could also see shogun catching bisping and finishing him with a highlight.

I would actually consider taking Bisping straight up.
He used to fight at 205 and did really well, so 195 wouldn't be an issue IMO.
As I've stated several times, I'm not really all that impressed with Shogun anyway, so I could definitely see Bisping picking him apart and making him look slow for 3 rounds.

I would take Bisping straight as well, but if he's a dog im actually betting. I like him in this fight.

I would rather see Bisping vs Diaz and to be honest i feel like that fight makes a little more sense and i think would be 10X the bigger draw over Bisping/Rua. I know Bisping tweeted his interest in fighting Diaz after his Silva fight. It was actually a very respectful one telling him how impressed he was against Silva and having a lot of respect for him as a fighter. Not like some of his usual banter.