Scottish UFC fighter Paul ‘Bearjew’ Craig will finally get his opportunity to show the world who the better man is when he locks horns once more with former light heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC255 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
12 months ago the Airdrie hitman realised his dream of fighting a Brazilian MMA legend under the bright lights of the UFC when he fought Shogun in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Craig took the fight on with just 12 days notice and despite completely dominating the the first round and out-striking Rua throughout the remaining rounds, the judges scored the bout a draw.
It would be the first time in 18 professional fights Bearjew found himself looking to the judges for their decision.
He said: “No fighter wants a draw on their record, especially without running it back to see who the better man is. That is why I have been asking for this fight.
“I feel I won in Brazil; you saw what I did to him in the first round and I outstruck him in every other round. The stats prove that.
“So, there is definitely unfinished business between us as he is the only draw on my record and I am the only draw on his record.
“On Saturday night I plan to change that draw to a win. I feel this is a favourable fight for me; I have shown that I can out strike with him and I know I can out grapple him.
“He is up against a totally different Paul Craig than he fought a year ago. I am improving all the time and I have been smashing personal records in training. This time I will be so much better as I have had a full fight camp to prepare and we have worked on one or two things that we noticed from last time.
“Ultimately, I feel submitting someone like Shogun, who has all the accolades, titles and legacy in MMA would really cement my jiu jitsu. That is a personal goal of mine.
“I am ranked 15 in the world right now and a win would push me further up the rankings. The light heavyweight division is wide open right now so I will be looking to put Shogun away and see if 2021 will be the year of the Scot.”
Watch the UFC® 255 early prelims live on UFC FIGHT PASS from 11:30pm this Saturday, with the action continuing on BT Sport 1 from 01:00am.
