HAS SHOGUN BEEN CURSED?
As Mauricio Rua is celebrating his newly crowned world championship, the curse of the 205-pound belt is what “Shogun” may have inherited along with it. The title Shogun now carries has been sinking through the grasp of each fighter it possesses and has been tossed back-and-fourth like a game of hot potato.
In three-years, six different fighters have worn the UFC's light-heavyweight belt around their waist. In between the Chuck Liddell era and now Shogun era, only two of them have successfully defended the title and both only did it once.
In 2007, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell was on a tremendous reign as UFC light-heavyweight champion, even so much that he was challenging opponents who had defeated him in the past so he could avenge his loses. Liddell easily knocked off Jeremy Horn and Randy Couture in his quest and had one man remaining on his hit list. At UFC 71, Liddell fought Quentin “Rampage” Jackson (defeated Liddell in Pride in 2003) but the world was quickly stunned as Rampage did it once again and knocked out Chuck. Later that year, Rampage defeated Dan Henderson in a Pride/UFC title-merger bout at UFC 75.
In 2008, Rampage coached season seven of “The Ultimate Fighter” against former TUF champion Forrest Griffin. When the two fought in the summer at UFC 86, Griffin took a controversial decision victory over Rampage. Later that year at UFC 92, the fan favourite champion Griffin was brutally knocked out when he fought another TUF champion in Rashad Evans. Much like Griffin though, Rashad wasn't able to enjoy his supremacy for very long.
In May of 2009 at UFC 98, Evans suffered a humiliating knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in the second-round. In October, Lyoto made his first title defense against Shogun. The bout went all five championship rounds and another controversial decision was given in Lyoto's favour.
In the rematch, Rua put an exclamation mark on the end of the Machida era, knocking him out in the first.
Rua is without question the most talented fighter at light-heavyweight and has been since 2005. The number of title changes at 205-pounds could just be an indication of the depth and level of competition which has been present for years in the division. As it looks now, Rua should be able to break this curse but in mixed martial arts anything and everything can happen. Shogun isn't out of the woods by a long shot, but he is the best man to get the job done.
In three-years, six different fighters have worn the UFC's light-heavyweight belt around their waist. In between the Chuck Liddell era and now Shogun era, only two of them have successfully defended the title and both only did it once.
In 2007, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell was on a tremendous reign as UFC light-heavyweight champion, even so much that he was challenging opponents who had defeated him in the past so he could avenge his loses. Liddell easily knocked off Jeremy Horn and Randy Couture in his quest and had one man remaining on his hit list. At UFC 71, Liddell fought Quentin “Rampage” Jackson (defeated Liddell in Pride in 2003) but the world was quickly stunned as Rampage did it once again and knocked out Chuck. Later that year, Rampage defeated Dan Henderson in a Pride/UFC title-merger bout at UFC 75.
In 2008, Rampage coached season seven of “The Ultimate Fighter” against former TUF champion Forrest Griffin. When the two fought in the summer at UFC 86, Griffin took a controversial decision victory over Rampage. Later that year at UFC 92, the fan favourite champion Griffin was brutally knocked out when he fought another TUF champion in Rashad Evans. Much like Griffin though, Rashad wasn't able to enjoy his supremacy for very long.
In May of 2009 at UFC 98, Evans suffered a humiliating knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in the second-round. In October, Lyoto made his first title defense against Shogun. The bout went all five championship rounds and another controversial decision was given in Lyoto's favour.
In the rematch, Rua put an exclamation mark on the end of the Machida era, knocking him out in the first.
Rua is without question the most talented fighter at light-heavyweight and has been since 2005. The number of title changes at 205-pounds could just be an indication of the depth and level of competition which has been present for years in the division. As it looks now, Rua should be able to break this curse but in mixed martial arts anything and everything can happen. Shogun isn't out of the woods by a long shot, but he is the best man to get the job done.
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