Mauricio Shogun believes he deserves a title fight with Daniel Cormier

M. Shogun (photo) has been in Ultimate for 11 years and made his debut at UFC 76 in September 2007. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UFC

The former champion, Mauricio Shogun makes the main fight of UFC Hamburg on July 22nd, against Anthony Smith which replaces Volkan oezdemir. With the change, the Brazilian will face a fighter who is not ranked in the category and this could affect his title chances. In an interview with the website “MMAFighting”, Rua thinks he will be “one step closer to fighting for the belt if I beat Anthony”.

The light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier also became heavyweight champion with a knockout over , in Las Vegas. He said he would like to face a “legend” like Mauritius Shogun.

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The Brazilian fighter also agreed to a confrontation with Cormier, as he believes Daniel is a great fighter. “I deserve this chance because of my history and my career in MMA,” said Shogun.

Shogun believes that the North American is in the TOP 5 on the list of 'greatest fighters of all time' after winning the heavyweight and light heavyweight belts simultaneously. “He is under Anderson (Silva), Wanderlei (Silva), Fedor (Emelianenko), some guys who have done more than him so far, but I think he is not that old and can still do a lot more,” explained Maurício.

If the duel with Cormier takes place later this year, the Brazilian believes it will be difficult to prepare in less than four months. “It's difficult because he's well balanced, he's good on the feet and on the ground, he has some of the best wrestling in the UFC. It's difficult because you have to train everything for him. It's a big challenge, but you become a target when you have the belt, because that's what everyone dreams of,” he concluded.