Shogun’s manager wants Bisping at 195 catchweight, The Count is game

Mauricio Rua’s manager Eduardo Alonso recently spoke with Brazil’s Portal Do Vale Tudo, and suggested that after his third loss in four fights, ‘Shogun’ could be heading down to middleweight, and might like a stop along the way vs. Michael Bisping at 195.

TUF Brazil 4 starts filming next week in Las Vegas with Shogun coaching vs Anderson Silva, providing further impetus for the weight drop.

“I would really like to see ‘Shogun’ in a catchweight bout next,” said Alonso as transcribed by Guilherme Cruz for MMA Fighting. “I suggested some names to the UFC, and I would like it to be at 195 pounds, like Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort did before dropping down. It would be a good way to test the weight cut, to see if he would perform better, how he would deal with the process, and if that would give him a new motivation.”

“‘Shogun’ cutting all the way down to 185 pounds without any tests would be complicated. He will be at the next TUF: Brazil, and then he will start his camp, so it might me complicated (to fight at 185 pounds), and maybe he will be forced to fight at 205 one more time. But if I could choose, it would be a 195-pound catchweight.”

“If I could choose, I’d love to see him fighting Michael Bisping. Bisping has a fight coming up in April, so it’s too soon to imagine what’s next, and it’s not even set with the UFC yet if he’s really going to fight at catchweight or not.”

“I would love to see (the TUF Brazil 4 Finale) here in Sao Paulo, at Palmeiras’ soccer stadium. It’s a great opportunity to have Anderson Silva fighting on the same card of ‘Shogun’ in a soccer stadium here in Brazil. We don’t know how many years Anderson Silva has left in his career. But only the UFC knows what they are planning to do.”

Bisping replied enthusiastically, via Twitter.

“I hear shoguns manager said shogun is interested in a fight with me at a catch weight of 195lbs,” he wrote. “After my fight coming up, I’m in!!!”