Forrest Griffin vs. Mauricio Rua Rematch to Take Place at UFC Rio Event

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A rematch of the epic September 2007 matchup between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will take place at the UFC's upcoming event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, MMA Fighting has learned from sources with knowledge of the situation.

Early Friday morning, UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout to MMA Fighting.

The original scrap between the two took place at UFC 76, with Griffin winning via third-round submission, pulling off the finish with just 15 seconds left in the bout. Griffin used the momentum of that win to propel him into a championship victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in July 2008.

Griffin is coming off a UFC 126 unanimous decision win over Rich Franklin, which improved his record to 18-6.

Rua, meanwhile, is coming off his UFC title loss to Jon Jones at UFC 128.

UFC 134 will take place at HSBC Arena on August 27, and marks the first UFC event held in Brazil since 1998.

The main event will see long-reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva attempting to defend his belt against Yushin Okami in another long-awaited rematch.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/04/15/forrest-griffin-vs-mauricio-rua-rematch-to-take-place-at-ufc-ri/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

WAR SHOGUN!!!

Not too bad. This is going to be an epic card.

There is a chance we get to see Shogun,Spider, Vitor and Royce Gracie all on the UFC:Rio card.

Perfect match up. Shogun needs to get his swagger back and a vengeance fight like this is exactly the type of contest that can do it. Griffin wants to get back to the title, defeating Shogun again is absolutely the way to do that. I can without bias say that Shogun is my pick. Griffin will be wary of the counter causing Shogun to press an attack where he finds chin.

I hope Shogun shows up in better condition than he did for his title defense. he looked like shit.

GDPofDRC wrote:

Perfect match up. Shogun needs to get his swagger back and a vengeance fight like this is exactly the type of contest that can do it. Griffin wants to get back to the title, defeating Shogun again is absolutely the way to do that. I can without bias say that Shogun is my pick. Griffin will be wary of the counter causing Shogun to press an attack where he finds chin.

I agree it is a perfect matchup to put either guy right there for another title shot. Forrest has to go into hostile territory but Shogun will have some pressure of fighting at home. I expect a ton of nerves for both men.

I don't think either guy would be next in line. It's Rashad then Rampage getting the shot.

The Rio card is going to be orgasmic.

freakzilla wrote:

I don't think either guy would be next in line. It's Rashad then Rampage getting the shot.

Unless Hamill wins, then the winner of this fight is right there.

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

I hope Shogun shows up in better condition than he did for his title defense. he looked like shit.

the only time shogun has not looked out of shape or injured in the octogon was against machida in thier first match. in that fight he fought smart, patiently and was not as agressive as we have seen him from his pride days. in all his other match ups in the ufc he has looked out of shape and has come in injured at times like he did wen he ko'd machida and lost to forrest. if that shogun shows up on fight night all forrest has to do is weather the storm and wait for shogun to ware down to take over in the later parts of the fight. if shogun comes in like in the shape he came in against his first machida fight then i so see him patiently breaking down forrest and getting a dec possibily a tko. in the end it depends wich shogun shows up, i'll take a patient, not as agressive shogun like the one from pride over most lhws today over than the shogun that ko'd machida/lost to forrest.

Cool although a Shogun-Lil Nog rematch in Brazil would've been filthy

Doubt shogun comes in to this one like he did that last one and forest will have his hands full to say the least but any how war forest

Hammill is no chance against Rampage.

freakzilla wrote:

Hammill is no chance against Rampage.

No chance is just being silly. Rampage will probably win but you can't just pencil the win in. Wouldn't even be the biggeset upset of the year.

I have it at around 90-10 Rampage.

im at 60-40 in favor of Page

freakzilla wrote:

I have it at around 90-10 Rampage.

Fair enough. Just don't count the win until the hand is raised. Cocaine is a hell of a druge....err I mean MMA is a hell of a sport.

I just re-watched Ben Saunders vs Dan Barrera from TUF 6. How the hell did 2 judges give the first round to Ben Saunders?

this is currently on the front page of ESPN.
http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=6361929

If he dies , he dies

killerofchicken wrote:

im at 60-40 in favor of Page

This is right, anyone giving huge odds here to Page aren't thinking it through clearly. Rampage really only boxes these days, there is no fear of the takedown or kicks, he'll just want to stand and bang. Hammil is actually pretty solid all around, and will come in with a gameplan, probably to wear on Page and win a decision. I also fear for Rampage's motivation in this fight and hope he doesn't underestimate Hammil. I'll be picking Page, but I can totally see Hammil stealing this fight.

On Shogun vs Forrest, I'm hoping Gun's last performance gets his after layoff bad performance out of the way. Because if he looks poor again like he did against Bones (conditioning-wise), Forrest could take the fight all over again. I'd expect though that Shogun will look good and think he'll get the finish in this fight.

freakzilla wrote:

Hammill is no chance against Rampage.

What evidence is there that Hammil can't recreate what Rashad did? Hammil is every bit the wrestler Rashad is and possibly an even better wrestler than Rashad is. He has the strength to muscle his way in and stall Rampage up and maybe even take him down some. It's not totally out of the question for that squishy head to pull this off.

Also, Rampage may not respect Hammil at all and thats not a good thing for Jackson here. If he doesn't think he has a chance to lose he won't train hard and he'll end up getting worked if he doesn't come in ready to stuff takedowns and clinch alot.