• UFC 128

Shogun sees plenty of himself in Jon Jones

Many said Lyoto Machida could not be beaten before he shared the same Octagon as Mauricio Shogun Rua © Getty Images

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Mauricio Shogun Rua has confessed the MMA world is right to be getting excited about Jon Jones, because the youngster is following a similar career path to the Brazilian.

UFC light-heavyweight champion Rua is the underdog going into UFC 128, largely due to the relentless headlines being created by the 23-year-old Jones. The ridiculously easy nature of victories over Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko and Brandon Vera has seen Jones tipped as the future of the sport.

Shogun, still only 29 himself, was once afforded similar recognition when he - as a 23-year-old - captured the Pride championship. Rua has gone on to fulfil his promise with some of the most devastating finishes MMA has witnessed, and he sees parallels with Jones.

"He's beating [quality opponents as] soundly as I did back then," Rua told ESPN.

The Brazilian is not ready to usher in the new generation though. In a real stylistic mix-up, Shogun will test Jones' outstanding wrestling capabilities with his lethal brand of Muay Thai, which proved too much for Lyoto Machida when he claimed the UFC 205lb title.

Rua plans to put Jones in a place of adversity for the first time, to test if the American has the same will to win that he had in the early stages of his career.

"I was truly very young back then," Rua said. "I had Wanderlei [Silva] as a team-mate who was already ahead of me, and I looked up to him as inspiration. I wanted to reach his level, to get to his status. I battled a lot for that. With a lot of effort, I managed to conquer my goals."

Jones initially played the role of Rua in sparring in order to help team-mate Rashad Evans prepare for his title shot at the Brazilian. However, Evans' knee injury propelled Jones into the No. 1 contender's spot, which could prove a significant turn of events.

Having spent months mimicking Shogun's footwork, timing, and ground game, Jones claims he probably knows the UFC light-heavyweight champion better than he knows himself.

"It will help me a lot," Jones told ESPN. "I have watched a lot of Shogun's fights, and I have seen a lot of his tendencies, a lot of things that he's been doing since his Pride days - in his jiu-jitsu part, in his bottom game, in his striking game. I see a lot.

"While I was preparing Rashad, I was mimicking Shogun: his stance, his steps, his punches and kicks that he throws the most, the hand that he uses the most.

"I've been watching the guy too, since I was young. I've really started to understand what he throws and why he throws it. And we will see that when I come out there: a calm, a sense of knowing what I'm into and what I'm doing. I'm really excited."

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