No one fights forever. It’s the way the fight game goes, and when an athlete hits the end of the road, it’s a sad day. So when Mauricio “Shogun” Rua staggered in the first round, his legs gone as Tyson Pedro went in for the finish, I felt like I was watching my MMA childhood fade away. Of course, replays showed that it was a clash of heads that caused Rua to lose his equilibrium, so that was a good sign. Then Shogun became Shogun again, ultimately halting Pedro in the third round. All of a sudden, the 37-year-old Brazilian star was 4-1 in his last five fights and still in the race for a shot at regaining his light heavyweight title. And if you think longtime MMA fans were happy, just look at Rua’s face after the fight. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
