One of the legends of the light heavyweight division isn’t done just yet. The UFC has booked the return of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (27-12-1) and in his return, he will be taking on a familiar opponent. AG. Fight was the first to report yesterday that Shogun would be taking on Ovince St. Preux (25-16).
The two men will meet at UFC 274 on May 7th. For OSP, he’s going to be returning to the light heavyweight division and he’s looking to get back on track. The last time we saw OSP was back in June when he took on Tanner Boser at heavyweight.
Things didn’t go well for OSP as he was stopped in the second round. It was his second consecutive loss as he had lost to Jamahal Hill prior to that. Overall, OSP is just 2-5 in his last seven trips to the octagon.
That said, the opponent he’ll be taking on next is one he’s done very well against. OSP took on the former UFC light heavyweight champion Shogun back in 2014. That night, OSP was able to knock out Shogun in just 34 seconds. He’s hoping to have another impressive win against the legend when they fight in May.
UFC return for Shogun
After Shogun’s last fight, many thought he would hang it up. The former UFC champion looked like a shell of himself when he fought in November of 2020 in a rematch against Paul Craig. Craig ran through Shogun and stopped him in the second round.
Shogun admitted after the fight that he wasn’t sure if he’d keep going. Given the time away after that fight, many were led to believe that the former champion was hanging it up. However, he’s not ready to retire just yet and he will look to get a big win at UFC 274.
Let’s be honest, Shogun is not fighting to go on another run towards the title. He’s fighting because he loves fighting and he has a lot of pride. Should he have a big performance and win in May, I could see him hanging it up after that. Go out on a win which is how the former champion would love to go out.