Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua, who also won titles for PRIDE FC, has already secured his place in the promotion’s hall of fame and was smart enough with his money to remain financially secure.
So why does he continue to fight?
“I don’t think I’m too old for this,” Rua told MMA Fighting. “I’m young, I’m 37. Demian (Maia) is 42 and just reached his prime recently, same for (Fabricio) Werdum. ‘Jacare’ (Souza) is 40. There are a lot of fighters around that age still doing well, and I’m younger than them. I know that if I stop now, I might regret it in a few years. So I’d rather fight a bit more and then stop for good.”
Rua (26-11) fights Paul Craig in the UFC Fight Night 164 co-main event tomorrow night (Sat., Nov. 16, 2019) inside Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Brazilian is looking to build on his technical knockout finish over Tyson Pedro at UFC Adelaide last December.
“I have two fights left, it’s true now,” Rua said. “I’ll stop when I don’t have the same physical condition and the same reflexes. I still do great in sparring. I face every fight I have as if it were my last. I don’t know if there’s going to be another one after Paul Craig, so this is how I see it right now.”
Rua was close to getting the dreaded “talk” from UFC President Dana White after a brutal stretch that saw him lose four of five — two by way of knockout — but he’s since turned things around and won four of his last five with two knockouts of his own.
To see who else is fighting at UFC Sao Paulo click here.
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