Brazil's Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Mauricio Shogun Rua celebrates after defeating Forrest Griffin of the U.S. during the UFC Rio, a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) competition in Rio de Janeiro August 27, 2011.
Brazil's Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Mauricio Shogun Rua celebrates after defeating Forrest Griffin of the U.S. during the UFC Rio, a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) competition in Rio de Janeiro August 27, 2011. REUTERS

Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua went out in a devastating way in his last fight against Ovince St, Preux in his hometown Brazil that followers are suggesting that it is time for the legendary Brazilian mixed martial artist to hang the gloves for good. The 32-year-old brawler is not ready to transition to a mentoring career just yet and is contemplating a move to middleweight.

While his last five fights have been discouraging, going just 1-4, Rua said that he made a technical loss in his last fight after he went down to a heck left hook from St. Preux just 34 seconds into the match. In a lengthy Facebook post, Rua revealed that the move down from light heavyweight to middleweight is among the possibilities.

"Now I will rest, enjoy my family and then think about my next steps, TUF Brazil, maybe a weight class change, but I'll keep on going cause winning is easy, but keep on battling and overcome the obstacles is what makes a true fighter," Rua imparted in the conclusive part of his post.

Apart from the tease of a move down in weight class, the former UFC light heavyweight champion also addressed the way fans have used the opportunity to bash him and make inappropriate jokes out of his loss coupled with some harsh choice of words. The 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Champion admitted that some of it got to him but he can take all the criticism but what hurts the most is not being able to showcase the things he has trained for.

Rua said that he lost mainly due to a technical fault but also gave respect to St. Preux who deservedly won the bout. The win was a surprising result for replacement fighter St. Preux who was filling in for the injured Jimi Manuwa. The Brazilian hero still has the mentoring gig at the next season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) to look forward to as he has agreed to appear as one of the coaches which include fellow Brazil product Anderson Silva.