Forty-one fights into his career, you’d expect Rua to have seen at all. At UFC 283, however, Rua anticipates the same difficulties he’s faced throughout his career when challenging a new opponent. In an always evolving sport, there’s always room to learn, and Rua believes he’s still evolving as a fighter, even if this is the last fight he has to show it.
“I think so,” Rua said when asked if he felt he was still evolving two decades into his professional career. “The sport of MMA is a new sport. It’s always evolving and changing. I’ve certainly learned a lot from this sport over these 21 years.”
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What Rua expects to happen and hopes to happen on Saturday night may be different things, but he does have one specific goal in mind on how he can cap off his career in front of his hometown crowd.
“He’s a young guy, so he has youth on his side,” Rua said of his UFC 283 opponent. “He’s good at Muay Thai and he likes to use it. He looks to strike. And those who know me know I also like to strike. So, I think striking is inevitable in this fight.
“The perfect performance is to end my career with a KO win.”
