A light heavyweight scrap between a shoe-in hall of famer and a rising prospect is in the works for a November 8 card in Brazil.
Former PRIDE and UFC champ Mauricio Rua is being pegged to fight dangerous striker Jimi Manuwa at UFC Fight Night 56 in Uberlandia, Brazil, UFC Tonight reported Wednesday evening.
After a rock solid 12-1 run inside the PRIDE ring, “Shogun” has been unable to replicate the same success in the Octagon – with a paltry 6-7 mark since September 2007.
The Brazilian fan favorite most recently suffered a brutal knockout at the heavy hands of Dan Henderson at UFC Fight Night 38 in March.
Meanwhile, Manuwa was a perfect 14-0 (all finishes) heading into his UFC Fight Night 37 main event against top contender Alexander Gustafsson, but ended up getting overwhelmed with strikes by his more experienced adversary.
Shogun is still a considerable step up in competition for “Poster Boy,” who easily beat Kyle Kingbury, Cyrille Diabate and Ryan Jimmo inside the Octagon before his loss to Gustafsson.
As of this writing, the only official bout for UFC Fight Night 56 is a light heavyweight scrap between Ovince St-Preux and Rafael Cavalcante.