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

Ovince St. Preux could not believe his luck when his left hand check hook landed on the jaw of the former light heavyweight champion Shogun Rua and decked him to the floor. He stopped for a second to believe his strength and unleashed a flurry a punches before the referee stood in to stop the fight. It took just 34 seconds to cement his stunning victory over the Brazilian but the 31 year-old fighter is not taking anything away from the former champion.

"I don't think he was slow at all," St. Preux said per Yahoo Sports. "The thing about me is that I'm super explosive and I can take you to the ground super quickly."

St. Preux declarations notwithstanding, many already doubt the ability of Mauricio Rua to prove he can still compete with the best of the Ultimate Fighting Championship with the way his defeats have come in succession in his last eight outings. Ever since he relinquished the light heavyweight belt to undefeated Jon Jones, he has only been 3-5. While his bouts have produced great entertainment particularly his rivalry with Dan Henderson, the Fight of the Year and Knockout of the Year accolades are not enough to book him future outings or secure his health.

The health of Rua is of primary concern given how much toll these fighters have taken over their years of fighting in the Octagon. Saturday was an illustration of that. The Brazilian fighter was his usual aggressive self going for the right straight only to be clobbered with a left check hook and the rest was history. This is not to say that the referee did not give Rua a chance to continue on but once the former champion grabbed on to the striped jersey of the official the match was over.

During the post-fight conference, Rua has repeatedly surmised that he is going get through the loss and assess his future with his team. He also stressed that in a weight class such as the heavyweights, every punch that lands can deliver the penultimate blow and that was what happened to him. Given how much head shot he has taken in the past, it may time to rethink the future of the striker.

After all, he has a still has a mentoring career to look forward to as he has been tapped to coach against Anderson "The Spider" Silva in the upcoming fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter, the developmental league of the UFC. For now, he takes in the defeat and rethinks the future if retirement is in the cards.