Shogun to return in Canada

From MMAJunkie.com

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (16-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a former PRIDE standout who underwent knee surgery after a submission loss to Forrest Griffin in September, will return to the UFC at an April 19 event in Montreal, Canada.

The news comes from GracieMag.com, which recently interviewed the fighter about the launch of his new fight team. Rua recently severed ties with Chute Boxe, his longtime home.

There's no word on Rua's opponent for the April 19 event, which is expected to take place at Montreal's Bell Centre. The event -- the first ever to take place in Canada -- will likely feature a title-unification bout between UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and interim champ (and French Canadian) Georges St. Pierre.

The 26-year-old Rua made his much-anticipated octagon debut at UFC 76 but suffered an upset submission loss (via rear-naked choke) to Griffin. Prior to the bout, he had won 12 of 13 fights. Rua reportedly had a knee injury prior to the fight, but the Brazilian made no mention of it before the fight. In a series of interviews after the event, he said he didn’t want people to think he was using the injury as an excuse.

He originally planned on a February or March return, but the UFC apparently wanted him ready for the Canadian show.

"I'm injury free and with none of the pains in my knee that bothered me, so, I'll devote my entire day to fighting, and I'll be 100 percent," Rua told GracieMag.com.

As it stands, Rua has won 12 of his past 14 fights -- nine of which came via knockout or technical knockout. PRIDE's 2005 Grand Prix Tournament winner had fought for the Japanese-based fight organization since October 2003 and racked up victories over such notables as current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson, Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

So, this could be one of the best cards of the year.

GSP vs. Serra

Franklin vs. Lutter

Shogun vs. TBA

Don't forget

Karo vs. Alves

Joslin vs. TBA

Cote vs. TBA

MacDonald vs. TBA

Or Houston? I guess Tito turned down Lyoto.

Shogun vs Jardine?

is Jardine scheduled for anything upcoming?

Appears Shogun is the same age as GSP.

I hope he's not coming back too soon after the knee surgery, the only disaster rise above his first ufc showing would be to repeat the performance in his second.

Joslin isn't fighting... he said in one of his threads on here that he doesn't think he'll be ready for April.

"he's fighting Lyoto "

Doubtful. Lyoto was offered Tito and accepted.

"Well, most fighters in the UFC will fight anyone offered to them...Tito is the exact opposite. It takes 2 to sign a bout agreement Brigham. "

To put Shogun vs. Machida doesn't make sense at this point. Shogun is an investment. He's a young, awesome talent. They didn't think he'd lose to Forrest. They wanted to set up their Rampage vs. Shogun rematch.

Shogun is coming off knee surgery. They are going to give him a fight, like last time, they think he can win.

So as it stands it sounds like:

GSP vs Serra,
Karo vs Alves,
Sherk vs Penn/Stevenson,
Shogun vs TBA,
Franklin vs Lutter,

Shaping up very nicely.

Couple other fights maybe?

Goulet vs Swick, MacDonald vs Almeida or Tanner

GSP vs Serra
.
Sherk vs Penn/Stevenson
.
Shogun vs TBA (Machida?)
.
Franklin vs Lutter
.
Karo vs Alves
.

with MacDonald, Goulet, and maybe Loiseau thrown on the undercard?

That would be a sick card. 2 Title fights, a former champ of 185 fighting a former title contender, a #2 contender fight at 170, and Shogun's return?

ttt