5 UFC fighters who should retire in 2019

#4 Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua

Former UFC champ Shogun Rua is now miles past his prime

A true legend of MMA, ‘Shogun’ Rua remains one of the few fighters to hold major titles in both the UFC and PRIDE, as he won the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix, and then followed that by claiming the UFC Light-Heavyweight title in 2010.

Any knowledgeable MMA fan would undoubtedly name him as one of the best 205lbs fighters of all time. But it’s hard to deny that the Brazilian is now way past his prime.

Sure, he was able to pick up his 10th UFC victory over Tyson Pedro earlier this month, but he was definitely in big trouble at points during that fight, wobbled by the Aussie on more than one occasion.

It’s a trend that’s become ever-more common for Shogun recently, as he seems to get badly hurt in all of his fights these days, as we saw when he was finished violently by Anthony Smith in July.

That loss broke a three-fight win streak for the legend, but even that run wasn’t as impressive as it sounds – one fight came in 2015, one in 2016 and one in 2017, and that final one came in a wild brawl with Gian Villante that could easily have gone either way.

Essentially, ‘Shogun’ hasn’t looked great since his 2013 win over James Te Huna – an age ago in MMA terms.

Most likely, that’s because he’s suffered from some bad injuries in his career, and he’s had to deal with more than one serious knee surgery.

That was the case as far back as 2011, but back then Shogun was still in his early 30’s and clearly had some durability left.

But that isn’t the case now – he’s 37 and he’s been fighting in crazy wars for almost two decades. Enough is enough, and this legend needs to hang up his gloves for his own good in 2019.