UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio  “Shogun” Rua is on track for an early 2011 return -- possibly at the  promotion’s annual Superbowl weekend event in February -- after  undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery in his left knee on  June 10 in Los Angeles.   
UFC President Dana White told the media earlier this month that the  newly crowned titleholder wouldn’t be expected back at least until  March. Eduardo Alonso, Rua’s manager, said all signs point to the  28-year-old fighter accomplishing that and possibly doing White one  better.   
“Off the top of my head, I think of the Superbowl card in February, but  this is something that could change depending on his recovery schedule  and the UFC’s business schedule,” said Alonso. “But the way things are  going right now, I can tell you that he’ll be ready sooner than  expected.” 
The 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight tournament champion’s  injury and subsequent surgery were kept secret for weeks, said Alonso,  to ease the fighter mentally into his recovery process. 
Alonso said Rua injured his left knee during his first-round knockout  victory over Lyoto  Machida at UFC  113 last May in Montreal.  
“It was precisely on the second takedown where he tried to take down  Machida and Machida stuffed it and ended up on top,” said Alonso. 

Rua had previously undergone surgery on his torn left ACL in September  2007, following a disastrous promotional debut against former 205-pound  champion 
Forrest  Griffin at 
UFC 76 in  Anaheim, Calif. Rua also had a follow-up operation on the same knee in  2008.  
“The first time he injured his knee was in training, and maybe from  years of training, before the Forrest Griffin fight,” said Alonso. “He  opted to fight with the injury and ended up having surgery right after.  We don’t comment on it very often because we don’t like to take anything  away from Forrest.” 
Alonso said that the UFC helped facilitate the most recent surgery. 
“We had options to do the surgery in many different places, but opted  with the UFC’s advice to do it in Los Angeles with Dr. Kitvme,” said  Alonso. “Honestly, I think it’s the best decision we’ve ever made.” 
Following surgery, Rua traveled to Las Vegas and has spent the last  four-and-a-half weeks in physical therapy with Alonso, Rua’s wife and  his newborn daughter at his side. 
Alonso said this recovery period has been the quickest of the three for  an anxious Rua, who wanted to stop taking his pain medication a day  after the surgery. Alonso praised the UFC for allotting its champion the  time to heal without the pressure of committing to his next bout. 
“Shogun is very happy, as he’s doing through a great moment in his life  with (winning) the belt and the birth of his daughter,” said Alonso.  “Mindset is very important for the recovery process, so we made sure he  was comfortable. But he’s very anxious because he’s such an active guy.  He has great genetics, so his recovery is going great. The challenge for  us as a team has been to hold him back and make sure he takes his  time.” 
Alonso, Rua, and his family leave the United States for Brazil on  Saturday, where the fighter will complete the rest of the physical  therapy in one of the world’s biggest soccer clubs in Sao Paulo. Alonso  said Rua will begin to integrate some training back into his  rehabilitation and will resume his full-time regimen once his physicians  give him the go-ahead. 
White had said that Rua’s first title defense against 
Rashad Evans,  who earned a unanimous decision over 
Quinton  “Rampage” Jackson at 
UFC  114 last May, wouldn’t be scheduled until the former Chute Boxe  fighter’s prognosis was clearer. However, a projected March return has  ignited recent talk of Evans fighting another candidate for an interim  title. Alonso said the chatter hasn’t fazed Rua. 
“Honestly, we don’t mind talk of interim titles, because this is the  UFC’s decision and not ours,” he said. “Shogun has the belt and it means  a lot to him and he’s the legit UFC champion right now. If the UFC  decides to set up an interim title for other fighters, it’s not really  for us to evaluate this. Each manager is really trying to push his  fighter’s best interests.” 
With Rua’s fast-improving progress, a 205-pound interim title might not  sound like a necessity after all. 
“Whatever happens, Shogun will have to defend his belt when he’s back  sooner or later and if it’s against an interim champion or just a  contender, it doesn’t change much,” he said. “The way we see it, unless a  champion retires, the interim champion is just another contender.”
From 
Sherdog.com