Shogun reveals behind the scenes before accepting fight against Jon Jones on the eve of the card: ‘Undecided’

Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Mauricio Shogun He was a guest on the “Flow Podcast” in recent days, where he spoke about various topics. Among them, about his historic confrontation for the light heavyweight belt against Jon Jonesin 2011, at UFC 128.

Shogun, then light heavyweight champion, recalled that his initial opponent for the fight would be Rashad Evans. However, with around three weeks to go before the event, the American was injured and was replaced by Jon Jones. Initially, the Curitiba native thought about not accepting the fight, but at the request of Lorenzo Ferrita, CEO of Ultimate at the time, he decided to accept the fight.

“I was in great shape, I was the champion and it was the most frustrating fight of my career. I was going to face Rashad Evans, but he ended up hurting his knee. The UFC invited me to go watch an event, and there they announced the injury and that he would not be able to fight”, declared Shogun, who continued:

“Lorenzo asked me to accept the fight (against Jon Jones), so I accepted, because of the affection I had for him. I was a little undecided, because I’m a very different fighter than the other. There were three weeks left before the event, two for training and one for ‘fight week’. It was frustrating, because I fought three rounds and couldn’t put my game into the fight”, concluded the former fighter, who last Saturday (4), during UFC Rio, was inducted into the Ultimate Hall of Fame in the “Ala dos Pioneiros ”.

Maurício Shogun faced the then American revelation Jon Jones, just 23 years old at the time, at UFC 128, in 2011. “Bones” knocked out the Curitiba native in the third round, after dominating him for much of the fight. The Brazilian is currently 42 years old and retired from MMA in January 2023, while Jon is 36 years old and is the current lineal heavyweight champion.

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