Forrest Griffin spoiled Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s highly-anticipated Octagon debut when he submitted the Brazilian with a rear-naked choke at UFC 76. On Saturday night at UFC 134, Shogun went circa 2005 and knocked out Griffin with the greatest of ease.
“Forrest is a good fighter,” Rua stated after his victory. “I respect him, but I trained hard for three months for this day.”
Griffin appeared a tad stiff to start the scrap, while Shogun seemed comfortable competing in front of his fellow Brazilians. The former “The Ultimate Fighter 1″ winner has a reputation of needing to eat a couple of punches before he gets going.
Unfortunately for Griffin, he was never afforded the opportunity as Shogun put him down at the 1:53 mark in the 1stRound.
At the post-fight press conference, Griffin admitted he didn’t want to be in Brazil because his wife is expecting the birth of their first baby at any moment. However, he didn’t use his impending fatherhood as an excuse.
UFC president Dana White said Shogun is right back in the title mix with his latest performance. The only bad news for Shogun is that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira topped him for the $100,000 ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus.
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