UFC on Fox 4 Judo Chop: The Weaknesses of Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua

In a previous edition we examined the strengths in the striking of 205lbs all time great, Mauricio Rua – more commonly known as Shogun. In that piece we examined Shogun’s excellent kicks, into which he turns his whole hip, making them some of the most powerful and technically beautiful kicks in mixed martial arts and certainly the UFC. We also discussed Shogun’s looping punches – which are not technically sound, but which are used to catch opponents while they are leaning or stepping in to strike. Finally we examined his running left hook – or cheat punch left hook – wherein Shogun loads his left leg and throws a left hook while stepping forward with his right – covering huge distance and generating great power.

In today’s Judo Chop we will cease lavishing praise on the powerful Mauricio Shogun and instead turn our attention to some of the faults in his striking. While many of Shogun’s lackluster performances have been excused by his fans on account of injuries and lay offs, the weaknesses in his striking game are present throughout the films of his entire career and have been exploited in his losses. While he was hurt early on by an unexpected flying knee against Jon Jones, Shogun’s most recent loss, to Dan Henderson was almost entirely of his own doing as Henderson pulled away at the loose threads in Rua’s sloppy technique. Using that fight we will examine the flaws that have always existed in Shogun’s game and which allowed Henderson to put a savage beating on the Brazilian great.

To summarize the weaknesses of Shogun’s striking game, they are his:

– Lack of Boxing Form

– Overconfidence

Lack of Boxing Form

This should be obvious to most who watch Shogun fight, but to those who had never noticed it, Shogun lacks a jab. An excellent left hook, a vicious right hook and a brutal right uppercut are all excellent weapons in Shogun’s punching arsenal, but they are always going to be naturally slower than the jab. Mauricio Rua has scarcely ever used a jab and even when he has, he has rarely used it effectively; more as an afterthought of something that he should be doing while looking for his big kicks, knees and punches. Shogun can throw a jab, as is evidenced by footage of him on the mitts, Thai pads, heavybag or even in sparring, it’s more that he doesn’t seem to understand the importance of it come fight time. Here is a fantastic example from Shogun’s meeting with Dan Henderson, demonstrating just how easily Shogun’s lack of a jab can be exploited.

Notice that Shogun, in the first minute of his bout with Dan Henderson, is looking to uppercut Hendo while Hendo’s head is offline and lowered in his crouching stance. Shogun and Hendo square off in the first frame, and in the second Shogun steps his lead leg forward and attempts to throw a right uppercut, eating Henderson’s tight right hook as a counter. This isn’t simply one mistake either, Shogun attempted the lead right uppercut throughout the fight numerous times – even landing it on a gassed Henderson later in the fight.

It is possible to overlook Shogun’s leaning his face forward, his head being bolt upright and his uppercut swinging in from down by his knee. All of that would have been much less of an issue if he lead with a jab. Notice that from the start of the sequence to the end of the sequence Henderson is looking straight at him. Not only does the jab serve as a deterrent to keep the opponent on the offensive, it covers their vision. If Shogun had jabbed he would have:

• Hit Henderson if Dan had simply attempted to counter the same way,
• Hidden his own right hand so that Henderson could not see where it was coming from – making Dan more reluctant to simply throw the counter right hook as Shogun’s jab was retracted.
• Allowed Shogun to step closer to Henderson and know that he was in range, without diving in face first.