Shogun: I am prepared if OSP tries to Lay N Pray
“He always tries to go for the ground and pound, but I trained for every situation. He may try to lay and pray, hold me on the ground, but I have trained this with my team.”
UFC light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux fights Mauricio Rua in the main event at UFC Fight Night 56, live on FOX Sports 1, but said he is not going to get into a slugfest with “Shogun.” Rua said he is ready for that.
“He always tries to go for the ground and pound, but I trained for every situation,” said Rua as transcribed by Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting. “He may try to lay and pray, hold me on the ground, but I have trained this with my team.”
Further, Rua said he is ready despite preparing for Jimi Manuwa, a radically different fighter than OSP. And of course OSP too now faces a fighter radically different from Rafael Cavalcante, who dropped out of their scheduled fight due to injury.
“We have a lot of great fighters at the gym, I had a sparring (partner) who fights exactly like St. Preux,” said Rua. “I don’t believe anyone will be in advantage on Saturday night because of the opponent’s change, since he also had his opponent changed twice. I had one week to adapt.”
“We never considered not taking the fight. It’s not the UFC’s fault and fans want to see a fight. It happens. Injuries are inevitable. I tried to change my training, adapt myself, and I believe I’ll be ready for him.”