the (very) short answer is that he's been recovering from knee injuries, and preparing for this next fight with Liddell, making sure he doesn't commit the same sin of being unprepared and out of shape as he was when he fought Coleman
given the record that each has compiled compiled, tonight will be do or die for each of them
whichever one loses tonight, will probably be closing their careers with this match
my gut tells me the winner will be Rua, though most oddsmakers hold otherwise