Cordeiro: Kings MMA Doors Open to ‘Shogun’
Marcelo Alonso Mar 28, 2011
Former
Chute Boxe Academy coach Rafael
Cordeiro found Mauricio
“Shogun” Rua’s performance against Jon Jones in
the UFC
128 main event on March 19 in Newark, N.J. deeply unsettling.
Rua, a longtime Cordeiro pupil, succumbed to a third-round
technical knockout against Jones, as he surrendered the UFC light
heavyweight crown in a woefully one-sided affair.
The doors to Cordeiro’s Kings MMA academy in Huntington Beach, Calif., remain open to Rua, who now owns a 3-3 mark inside the Octagon.
“It just depends on him,” Cordeiro (Pictured) told Sherdog.com. “It
would be very easy to say that Shogun coming to train at my gym
would be the solution to his problems. I think it would be the
first step to solving things. I think the first step to solving
your problems is for you to seek good training. That’s not to say
he hasn’t done that, because he has a good team, but I’ve seen some
weaknesses in Shogun that I had not seen before.”
Jones wiped out Rua, standing and on the ground, and emerged from the bout virtually unscathed. Never before had the 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix winner been so soundly defeated. For Cordeiro, it was particularly tough to stomach.
“Even though we didn’t train together, his defeat was a very big revelation to me,” he added. “It’s hard to see your student going through a situation so complicated in the ring. Nobody until then had put Shogun [in a situation like that].”
Widely regarded as one of the top light heavyweights of all-time, Rua entered the cage against Jones on the heels of his third reconstructive knee surgery since 2007. The 29-year-old Brazilian had not fought in almost a year. Cordeiro believes he has an ideal team in place to assist in Rua’s recovery.
“My gym is open to all the guys,” he said. “When I opened this gym, it was always my intention to bring together good things and new. I want to add value to these fighters, and, so far, nothing has changed.
“It would be very easy to say to you today that I have the cure for Shogun’s problems,” Cordeiro added. “The most important thing for me is that he knows that there is a group of competent people to help him here. Again, that’s not to say he didn’t have competent people at his side [leading up to the Jones fight]. I think going forward there are some things that happened that showed he needed some special people to work with him.”
Gleidson Venga and Fernando Kallas contributed to this report.
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The doors to Cordeiro’s Kings MMA academy in Huntington Beach, Calif., remain open to Rua, who now owns a 3-3 mark inside the Octagon.
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Jones wiped out Rua, standing and on the ground, and emerged from the bout virtually unscathed. Never before had the 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix winner been so soundly defeated. For Cordeiro, it was particularly tough to stomach.
“I was very sad on one hand, and it was a very sad night for me
because this is a guy I graduated from white belt to black belt. I
have a lot of affection for him,” Cordeiro said. “Every time I saw
him coming to the ring, whether I was there or not, I had a reason
to be proud because it was a black belt of mine who was in
there.
“Even though we didn’t train together, his defeat was a very big revelation to me,” he added. “It’s hard to see your student going through a situation so complicated in the ring. Nobody until then had put Shogun [in a situation like that].”
Widely regarded as one of the top light heavyweights of all-time, Rua entered the cage against Jones on the heels of his third reconstructive knee surgery since 2007. The 29-year-old Brazilian had not fought in almost a year. Cordeiro believes he has an ideal team in place to assist in Rua’s recovery.
“My gym is open to all the guys,” he said. “When I opened this gym, it was always my intention to bring together good things and new. I want to add value to these fighters, and, so far, nothing has changed.
“It would be very easy to say to you today that I have the cure for Shogun’s problems,” Cordeiro added. “The most important thing for me is that he knows that there is a group of competent people to help him here. Again, that’s not to say he didn’t have competent people at his side [leading up to the Jones fight]. I think going forward there are some things that happened that showed he needed some special people to work with him.”
Gleidson Venga and Fernando Kallas contributed to this report.
Reader comments are active below. Chime in with an opinion or thought by signing in with your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo! account.
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