Ovince St. Preux vs. Shogun Rua 2 set for September’s UFC Fight Night: Japan

Ask and you shall receive. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has been vocal about his desire to fight once again in front of his old Japanese PRIDE FC audience, and the UFC has listened. Not only have they granted him that wish, but the chance to avenge a quick loss. He'll face Ovince St. Preux on September 23rd at the Saitama Super Arena for UFC Fight Night 117.

The two originally faced off back in 2014 for the main event for UFC Fight Night 56 in Brazil, with OSP defeating "Shogun" via TKO in 34 quick seconds. To say it wasn't a good night for Mauricio would be an understatement ... St. Preux caught him on the first exchange of punches, dropping a dazed Rua to the canvas where he was finished with ground and pound. A younger "Shogun" would have walked right through the punches, but even in 2014 Rua was showing his age.

That being said, "Shogun" is currently riding a three fight win streak with wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Corey Anderson, and Gian Villante. Now he wants revenge, and might be able to get it. Ovince St. Preux just broke a three fight losing skid by beating Marcos Rogerio de Lima back in April, but there are questions about whether he can consistently hang at the top of the light heavyweight division.

UFC Fight Night 117 is still coming together, but with the addition of "Shogun" it seems like the UFC is once again going back to the well of oldschool PRIDE favorites. We certainly won’t complain about that.