Mauricio "Shogun" Rua confirms bout against Chuck Liddell

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will take on Chuck Liddell in June, the 2005 PRIDE GP Champion confirmed to Brazilian website TATAME.

Rua signed the contract yesterday and told TATAME that he plans on avenging former Chute Boxe teammate Wanderlei Silva's UFC 79 loss to Liddell.

Formerly considered by many to be the number one light heavyweight in the world, Rua suffered a setback in his UFC debut, losing to Forrest Griffin via rear naked choke with 15 seconds remaining in the fight.

Rua vs. Liddell is currently slated for June 14 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Though in an interview with Sports Illustrated, Liddell said his trainer would like to move the fight closer to home in Las Vegas.

Rua said he had a knee injury and wasn't 100% for his bout with Griffin which he did have surgery on recently. However, that doesn't account for him being gassed after the 1st round either.

Dan Henderson was recently interviewed and almost stated for a fact that people were using steroids in Pride FC because there was no testing. It most certainly explains why they're not doint to well in the UFC which has a strict performance enhancing substance policy.