"Well to be honest with you, I was really surprised and happy with it. At first, I was expecting to have a rematch with Rampage myself. Even if that was not happening and Rampage was to fight Lyoto, I was expecting to fight at least one more time to get a title shot. That was a big surprise but a very pleasant one. I think Lyoto is a great fighter. It's tough to see holes in his game but it's going to be interesting and I'm very excited. I trust my skills and I'm going to be prepared to win the fight."

-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (18-3) is next inline for a title shot against defending champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 104. Many experts and fans alike thought Quinton Jackson would surely face off against Machida as the opposing coach on TUF 10 and the two would go on to fight for the belt. Much to everyone's surprise, including Shogun's, Rashad Evans was named the opposing TUF 10 coach and Rua was named the challenger to fight for the light heavyweight crown.

In a recent interview with Versus TV's own, Ariel Helwani, Shogun says he was "pleasantly surprised" to get a chance to fight for his first UFC championship. The Brazilian is no stranger to winning as was the 2005 middleweight PRIDE champion for the now defunct promotion. In the UFC, Shogun has earned "Fight of the Night" and "Knockout of the Night" honors.

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!