Bloody Elbow, for MMA and UFC news

One of the most expected fights of 2011 will be the first title defense of the UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who’ll face the newcomer Jon Jones on UFC 128, which happens on March 19th. The American is been cheered by the local media and pointed out as the favorite, but the ones who are aware of the power of Shogun’s hands know well the difficulties Jones will go through. That’s the case of Rogerio "Minotouro" Nogueira, who fought the current champion back on Pride’s GP, in 2005. The athletes had one of the greatest battles in all history and each knock the other down once, but Shogun was declared the winner on a unanimous decision of the judges. Having met him closely, Minotouro revealed to TATAME that he considers the Brazilian the favorite and believe the belt shall remain here, in Brazil. "It’ll be a pretty tough fight, there’re no doubts. Jon Jones is the guy now, people are creating great expectations about him, but particularly disagree. In my opinion, Shogun has a sharper Boxing than Jones, and he has got more game. Jon Jones is talented, has a great reach, but he hasn’t confronted a guy like Shogun. I believe Shogun will win this one, I’d bet on him, because I believe he has got more game than Jones. But every fight is unique, right?", commented the fighter, who’ll fight Phil Davis on UFC Fight Night 24, on March 26th.

Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua has reiterated his desire to step into the Octagon with Anderson Silva, but is refusing to look beyond his next opponent Jon Jones. Rua defends his light heavyweight crown against the highly-rated youngster 'Bones' Jones at UFC 128 in New Jersey, but he admits he would jump at the chance to fight the middleweight champion. "Now I'm focused on Jon Jones," Rua told Brazil's Tatame. "It's a sin to speak about my next fight when I'm thinking about a man like Jon Jones. So I'm focused on him, but I already answered. "It's obvious I'd fight Anderson. I respect him as a friend and a professional, but I also am a professional. Yes, I'd fight him." However, a potential all-Brazilian showdown may be some way off. With Silva having recently dispatched compatriot Vitor Belfort at UFC 126, he awaits welterweight champion Georges St Pierre, should the Canadian see off challenger Jake Shields at UFC 129 in Toronto, with 'Rush' expected to relinquish his title and move up to the middleweight division.

With Rashad Evans injured, Jon Jones earned a shot at the light heavyweight title against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, but the young talented fighter wasn’t UFC’s first option to replace Evans. According to the champion to TATAME TV, Rampage was offered the shot. "The UFC thought in other alternatives, but it didn’t worked out. For some reason he (Jackson) didn’t accepted it", Shogun said, talking about his upcoming fight against Jon Jones. "I’ll have to change my training because he’s a lot different from Rashad, much taller, and it’ll be a great challenge. He’s been surprising everybody in the UFC, defeated everybody with ease, and it’ll be a tough fight for me", he stated.