Shogun's Restoration

 Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua continued his UFC restoration with an impressive victory over Chuck Liddell. Leading some to say that Shogun is back, perhaps he never really left?

The major storyline for Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua going into UFC 97 was his conditioning. For the former Pride fighter, and former #1 ranked light heavyweight, his UFC career had been a bumpy road of a tired fighter. But what is so often forgotten is that since Rua entered the UFC he has been tormented with ACL injuries.

Shogun's debut came against Forrest Griffin. At the time Griffin was still recovering from a shocking loss to Keith Jardine and many didn't give the reality star much of a chance to defeat Rua. 

Griffin proved the doubters (inlcuding me) wrong. Rua looked thin and weak during the bout, instantly leading to steroid speculation, but it soon becmae public that Rua had a ruptured ACL and didn't want to pull out of his first fight. Despite the injury few forgave the former Pride star for gasing in the fight and losing to a reality star. 

After undergoing reconstructive surgery Rua was set to fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 85, then Rua reinjured the same knee. This time Rua went straight to surgery. Two major knee surgeries in a 12 month period is difficult for any athlete to overcome.  We often see athletes need two years before they get back into full form.

Shogun returned to the UFC in February to face Mark Coleman and gased just as quickly as he did in the Griffin fight. Detractors continued to pile on Rua for his perofrmance. Rua was rewarded with his victory with the chance to fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 97.

For whatever reason Rua's ACL injury was forgotten by most of the MMA community. Never once was it mentioned by Joe Rogan, Dana White and Mike Goldberg at UFC 97. The fact that he had undergone major knee surgery was white washed away from the UFC 's publicity tour.

Why should we be surprised that Rua shined once he was give enough time to recover from his injuries?