UFC Fight Night 33's Te Huna: A win over ‘Shogun’ still means something

BRISBANE, Australia – As soon as UFC Fight Night 33's headliner was booked between heavyweights Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva, James Te Huna asked the promotion to fight ex-champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Te Huna was coming off a submission loss to current No. 1 light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira and saw more than one good reason to make the request.

“He’s got a massive fan base here (in Australia), and he’s an exciting fighter,” Te Huna said. “That’s why I got into the sport in the first place – to come up against a good challenge.”

While Rua has lost his past two and faces questions of whether he’s still capable of competing at high level, Te Huna said a win over the ex-champ still means something.

“If I win against ‘Shogun,’ I believe I’m going to get one of the better ‘Shoguns’ that there is, because he just come off a fight,” he told MMAjunkie. “He’s going to be very dangerous; he’s going to be the ‘Shogun’ that everyone knows. So I’m grateful for that, and I look forward to it.”

Te Huna (16-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Rua (21-8 MMA, 5-6 UFC) co-headline Saturday’s event at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia. The event’s main-card airs in the U.S. Friday night on FOX Sports 1 due to a time difference.

Te Huna is a slight favorite to win the bout, a fact that surprised him when he saw betting lines on Wednesday.

“I thought [Rua] would have been the favorite,” he said. “He’s been at the top for so long and fought some good battles, and I haven’t really been there.”

According to UFC President Dana White, a win would definitely change that. White said Te Huna has the opportunity of a lifetime to beat Rua and possibly send him packing to the middleweight division.

“I’m just outside the top-10, and to beat him, that would definitely put me up there,” Te Huna said.

Now, it’s just a matter of getting through the fight. Rua seems incapable of times of fighting anything other than a slugfest, but Te Huna said he’s prepared.

“I’ve pictured it, and I’ve trained for three hard rounds, so it could go that way,” he said.

Te Huna brought lessons from the Teixeira fight into training camp, including what he’d learned from former Australian boxing champ Danny Green, who stopped ex-champ Roy Jones Jr. in 2009. Green first worked with Te Huna prior to his fight with Teixeira, and although he wasn’t successful, he picked up tools to help him prepare better for the cage.

“I learned so much from him – how to approach training sessions, how to approach a fight,” Te Huna said of his work with the pugilist. “He’s been there, done that. He’s fought world-class opponents, and he’s also been in the same situation I am.”

Te Huna said Green taught him the value of proper mindset during sparring, which he’s leaned on more heavily than in other camps.

“Coming into a session, you can’t just train,” he said. “You’ve got to mentally focus on your priorities, what you need to work on.”

Of course, his opportunity comes with a potential pitfall that could render the extra work useless.

“He needs to win this fight – he’s had two straight losses,” Te Huna said. “I don’t think he’ll take any risks. I think he’s going to go for my weakest point. Everyone knows what that is.”

What he means to say is the Rua may take the safe route and grapple his way to victory. Whether that happens or not, however, he is over the surprise of getting a choice opponent in the first place. He is ready for work.

“It was kind of hard, looking up to ‘Shogun,’ because I’m a huge fan of his,” Te Huna said. “I just put in the hard yards of training trying to prepare for it.”

For the latest on UFC Fight Night 33, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.