Shogun Rua on UFC retirement: Why would I stop fighting? It doesn't make much sense!

Mauricio Rua, unlike his good friend Wanderlei Silva, is happy with his position at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The former light heavyweight champion has competed 13 times for the global mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion since making his debut in 2007. The results, however, haven't exactly mirrored those he obtained during his time with PRIDE FC, as he's racked up a below-average 6-7 record during his seven-year tenure.

Despite losing three of his last four, including getting his nose busted up by Dan Henderson in his previous outing at UFC Fight Night 38 (see it), at the age of 32, "Shogun" has no plans on hanging up his gloves anytime soon.

In fact, despite his recent string of bad luck, the thought of retirement hasn't crossed his mind, so as long as UFC officials want to keep him around, he plans on fighting inside the Octagon for the foreseeable future. That's because win, lose, or draw, he always brings it once he steps foot inside the Octagon.

He elaborates to FOX Sports:

"It (retirement) never really crossed my mind. Much to the contrary, I was always planning on continuing to fight. If I'm the guy going in there fighting and I'm happy doing it and the UFC is the promotion that hires and promotes my fights and they are happy with having me on the show, then why would I stop fighting? It doesn't make much sense. It never really crossed my mind."

His reluctance to retire isn't something that makes his family happy, as Rua says that his wife and mother want nothing more than for him to walk away from the sport that sends him home battered and bruised.

While he understand their view, "Shogun" says he does't put much thought into it.

"It doesn't really bother me or hinder me in any way. My mom and my wife, they don't really understand much about fighting, and they're naturally worried with my well-being, with my health and everything. I think every fighter probably goes through that at some point. I understand they worry and I understand they care about me. I also understand they don't understand much about fighting, so I don't really get bothered by it; it doesn't hinder me at all. It's natural. I know what I'm doing. It's part of the game, and my family is being my family."

Rua will next take on rising sensation Jimi Manuwa in the main event of UFC Fight Night 56, which is set to go down inside Ginasio Municipal Tancredo Neves in Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on Nov. 8, 2014, and will air on Fight Pass as well as GLOBO TV.

With a win over "Poster Boy," members of Team Rua believe the stand-up specialist will need -- at the very least -- one more impressive victory to get right back into the title hunt. A loss, on the other hand, will be catastrophic for the Brazilian bomber.

But don't expect him to start collecting that 401k should the worst case scenario arise in Brazil.