After announcing he would no longer be a part of the Chute Boxe roster, along with his older brother (Murilo Ninja) Mauricio Shogun’s destiny seems uncertain. Ninja had his bags packed for the United States to put together his own team, his former teammate Andre Dida seemed to have his future in Canada, however, the two decided to stick around Curitiba a while and create a new enterprise, together with Shogun, the Universidade da Luta (Fight University).
The Pride middleweight GP champion will return to the octagon on April 19th to try and wipe away the poor impression he left in his UFC debut, when he was submitted by Forrest Griffin. GRACIEMAG.com spoke with the Curitiban, who spoke about his new home and next fight.
“We decided everyone would stay in Curitiba. My brother (Murilo Ninja) had already bought his ticket, but decided to stay. The two of us and Dida (Andre) will stay and we’ll open our own gym, called UDL (Universidade da Luta). The team looks promising; we already have around 15 fighters with us. I went back to heavy training today and we’re training muay thai with Mauricio Veio and physical conditioning with Moralez. We’re looking for a Jiu-Jitsu coach for our groundwork, but for the time being we’re training among ourselves,” said Shogun.
On his return to the octagon, Mauricio Rua declared: “I’m already preparing for my return, I’ll fight on April 19th. Ninja and Dida go back in March. 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%. I’ll do my best to give back to my fans.”
