Shogun Rua returns at UFC 283 against Ihor Potieria

Earlier this week, it was being rumored that Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (27-13-1) and Lyoto Machida (26-12) could conclude their trilogy at UFC 283. The event is the first PPV of 2023 and it’s the first time the promotion has returned to Brazil since the pandemic.

Machida is a free agent currently and was interested in fighting Shogun in a retirement fight. His manager told Sherdog that the UFC had interest in the fight. However, we learned last night that there wasn’t enough interest to get the fight done.

MMA Fighting reported last night that Shogun will be fighting at UFC 283 but he will be taking on Ihor Potieria (18-3). Potieria earned a contract with the promotion by getting a TKO win on the 2021 Contender Series. That win was his fourteenth in a row.

However, he didn’t have much success in his debut with the promotion. At UFC 277 back in July, Potieria was stopped in the second round by Nicolae Negumereanu. Now, he gets to fight a legend in his retirement fight hoping to spoil the party in Brazil.

UFC 283 in Brazil

There was a time where Shogun was looked at as one of the best fighters in the world. He became the UFC light heavyweight champion by knocking out Lyoto Machida. Unfortunately for Shogun, he reign ended when he was mauled by the best of all time, Jon Jones.

Since his loss to Jones, we’ve seen Shogun fight 17 times inside the octagon. In those 17 fights, he’s gone 8-8-1. Now, he’s had some really decent stretches during that time. For example, he went 5-1-1 between 2015 and 2019 that saw him earn two wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and a big win over Corey Anderson.

However, he will make the walk in January riding a two-fight losing streak. At 40-years-old and having been in so many wars, Shogun knows that this will be the final walk for him. It should be exciting but emotional all wrapped up in one. We are in for a treat at UFC 283.