"I know Lyoto very well. I have studied his game a lot and I know his style. I train my strategy for the fight for three months in a row - focusing on that. I hope to be able keep up with the strategy the whole fight. Every time I enter the fight as the underdog, I have been successful. The pressure is on the favorite. He's the one with the responsibility of proving people right. It makes me fight without any pressure. Against Chuck Liddell, I proved to the American people my potential. There was a lot of doubters and all that. MMA and the UFC is the fastest growing sport. In America, it's growing so much and getting so big. Our duty as a fighter is to always keep evolving, try to get better and show better performances for the fans. I know that I can get better and have been making an effort in that."  - Mauricio Rua

Former PRIDE middleweight grand prix winner, Maurico Rua, is ready to fight current light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 104. Rua earned a title shot after putting together impressive UFC wins, defeating Mark Coleman at UFC 93 and, most recently, Chuck Liddell by TKO at UFC 97 REDEMPTION.

Those not familiar with Shogun questioned his quick lead up to title contention, but the 18-3 Brazilian enjoys being the underdog and has been successful playing that role thus far. Shogun has been victorious over the "who's who" of mixed martial artists, such as Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem (x2), Ricardo Arona, Kevin Randleman and Cyrille Diabate.

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 104 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!