5 UFC fighters who were never the same after an injury

#2 Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson - believes Jon Jones permanently injured his knee at UFC 135

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson [left]

Another fighter who was never the same after fighting Jon Jones, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson admitted that kicks to the knee from 'Bones' severely damaged his MMA hopes. He once said:

"Honestly I think that Jon Jones is bad for the sport, because when he fights people, he injures us. He kicked my knee backwards, my knee is never the same. He's done it to a couple other guys. I saw him rip one guy's shoulder out his socket. We just try to the same thing he's trying to do, earn a living and do the sport that we love. We don't go in there to try and injure people, even though I tried to fold an opponent in half, but he made me angry, it was something that he did to me, I had a history.... But this guy's doing it to every opponent. He's kicking their knees backwards and really trying to hurt people. So I think that's bad for the sport."

After being stopped for the first time in the UFC by Jones, 'Rampage' lost his next two fights against Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. He then moved to Bellator, where he won five fights on the trot against lesser opposition before losing three of his last four clashes in the promotion.

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#1 Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua - underwent surgery for a knee injury shortly after his UFC debut

UFC 255: Rua v Craig

At the time of the UFC-PRIDE merger, Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua was one of the hottest prospects in MMA. Undoubtedly one of the best light heavyweights in the world at the time, the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix winner was expected to continue his success in the UFC.

While 'Shogun' clinched the UFC light heavyweight title in May 2010 with a knockout win over Lyoto Machida, he just wasn't the same fighter after suffering a series of knee injuries. Shortly after his UFC debut in 2007, he went under the knife for a pre-existing knee condition, before suffering another relapse soon after the surgery.

The Brazilian simply hasn't been able to live up to his billing in the UFC, although he won the 205-lbs title and has notable wins over Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Brandon Vera. With ten losses in the promotion, 'Shogun' has left fans wondering what could've been had he not undergone several knee reconstructions.