Maurcio Rua

Posted June 26, 201014 yr

Another fighter I want! :drool:

Mauricio Milani Rua (born November 25, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Nicknamed Shogun, Rua was the winner of the PRIDE Fighting Championship's 2005 Middleweight (205 lb) Grand Prix. He holds notable wins over Lyoto Machida, Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Alistair Overeem (on two occasions), Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. He received a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Nino Schembri. He is currently ranked as the #1 Light Heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.com. He became famous for his wild, aggressive style, and use of stomps and soccer kicks to downed opponents while fighting in Pride FC. He has recently just won the UFC Light Heavyweight title by knocking Loyoto Machida out in their rematch.

Early life

Mauricio was born in Curitiba, Brazil. His family also lives in Curitiba. His father is a successful businessman that runs his own business. His mother was a track athlete and is currently a marathon runner. The Rua brothers occasionally run 10km runs with their mother as well.Shogun has an older brother Murilo (born 1980) and a younger brother Marco "Shaolin" Rua. Both are mixed martial artists training at Chute Boxe, though Marco does not compete at a professional level.

Shogun has stated that he began training in Muay Thai at the age of 15, and began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 17. In contrast, Pride announcer Mauro Ranallo once claimed that Shogun began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) at the age of six and Muay Thai at seven, and achieved a 10–0 Muay Thai record. He was very successful in BJJ championships at the Blue and Purple belt level. Rua followed his older brother's footsteps after Murilo started training at the Chute Boxe Academy. In addition to Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he also currently trains in wrestling and western boxing.

Mixed martial arts career

Rua started his professional career at vale tudo events in Brazil, achieving three stoppages due to strikes, including a win over future Chute Boxe teammate Evangelista Santos. In a fast-paced bout, Santos matched Rua on the feet until Rua took Santos to the ground and forced a stoppage due to strikes from mount. Shogun then entered the International Fighting Championship's (IFC) "Global Domination" tournament. Rua won his first bout against Eric Wanderlei due to punches, but in the second bout suffered the first loss of his career in a controversy situation to Renato Sobral due to guillotine choke in the third round. Sobral was fighting for nearly two minutes adjusting the guillotine. Rua was resisting and didn't tap out, but the referee stopped the fight. Rua's team protested but Sobral was announced the winner.

Pride Fighting Championship

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua attacks Hiromitsu Kanehara with a flying stomp. Shogun exhibited noted ability with his kicks and stomps against grounded opponents throughout his career in Pride.Following his defeat in the IFC tournament, Shogun made his way to Japan to enter the Pride Fighting Championship. He made his Pride debut at the inaugural Pride Bushido 1, a side promotion for lighter weight fighters. In his three Bushido appearances, Rua defeated Akira Shoji, Akihiro Gono, and Yasuhito Namekawa all by strikes in the first round. With his success, Rua graduated to his debut in a main Pride event at Pride 29, where he faced former professional wrestler Hiromitsu Kanehara. Rua defeated Kanehara by stomp early in the first round.

Rua's success and similar background led to comparisons with his Chute Boxe teammate and Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva. However, when he entered the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament as a heavy underdog. For the first round of the tounament at Pride Total Elimination 2005, he faced Quinton Jackson, whom he had challenged after Jackson won a controversial split decision over his brother, Murilo at PRIDE 29. Jackson had been the runner-up in the Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix, but Mauricio dominated the favored fighter from beginning to end, breaking Jackson's ribs with knee strikes and ending the fight in dramatic fashion with soccer kicks to the face in the first round. Jackson later stated that Shogun was the best fighter he had ever fought. In the second round at Pride Critical Countdown 2005, Rua faced Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, a member of Chute Boxe's rival academy Brazilian Top Team. Rua defeated Nogueira by unanimous decision. On August 28, 2005, Rua participated in Pride Final Conflict 2005, in which the last two rounds of the tournament were held on the same night. Rua defeated Alistair Overeem by TKO in the first round, while Ricardo Arona defeated Rua's teammate Wanderlei Silva by decision. Rua and Arona faced each other in the final bout of the tournament. At 2:54 in the first round, Rua knocked Arona out with punches to win the bout and become the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix winner. It wrapped up a year in which he won Fighter of the Year honors from Sherdog.com

In the very next fight after his Grand Prix win, Shogun suffered the second loss of his career. At Pride 31, He faced heavyweight wrestler and Pride Grand Prix 2000 winner Mark Coleman. As Coleman executed a takedown, Rua landed awkwardly and dislocated his elbow, forcing a stoppage due to injury. Rua bounced back with a string of victories. At Pride Final Conflict Absolute he defeated French kickboxer Cyrille Diabate by TKO due to stomps. At Pride 32 he submitted former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman with a kneebar at 2:35 of the first round. In his final Pride appearance at Pride 33, he fought a rematch with Alistair Overeem and knocked the Dutchman out at 3:37 of the first round.

By the end of his run at Pride, Rua was ranked as the top light heavyweight in the world by Nokaut, Sherdog, and MMAWeekly.com.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After the UFC bought out Pride, Shogun signed on with the UFC and made his highly anticipated debut in the organization at UFC 76. The fight was Rua's first fight under the Unified Rules of MMA, which allow elbows but prohibit kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent. Facing The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Forrest Griffin, Rua was widely regarded as the top light heavyweight fighter in the world and considered a heavy favorite to win However, Rua had difficulty with the larger Griffin and became exhausted in the second round of the fight. After losing both of the previous rounds, Rua ultimately succumbed to a rear naked choke in the final seconds of the third round. Most blame his poor cardiovascular fitness on the fact that Rua suffered a knee injury during training for the fight. He re-injured the knee during the fight and had elective surgery afterwards.

Rua left Chute Boxe in January 2008 and opened his own camp, Universidade da luta, with his brother Murilo in his hometown, Curitiba, Brazil.

Rua's surgery forced him to drop out of UFC 85. Instead, he was granted a rematch with Mark Coleman at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Shogun defeated Coleman by TKO with 24 seconds left in the third round. The fight earned co-Fight of the Night honors and a $40,000 bonus. In spite of the award, Rua drew criticism for his lackluster performance against Coleman, who was 44 years old and had not competed in over two years. Rua's next fight took place at UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada against former longtime UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell. Shogun came into the fight in better shape than his last two outings, and knocked out Liddell in the first round with a devastating left hook followed by hammer fists. With this victory, Rua returned to the top-ten rankings for the light heavyweight division, and put him next in line for a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Fighting For The UFC Light Heavyweight Title

At UFC 104 Shogun lost a unanimous decision to UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. All three judges scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Machida. However, controversy arose with the decision as many notable MMA personalities felt that Shogun had won the fight. UFC President Dana White stated that he believed Shogun had outscored Machida in the 1st, 4th, and 5th round, thus winning the bout.

When asked at the post-fight interviews, many notable MMA fighters felt that Rua had won the fight, including Quinton Jackson, Thiago Silva, Jon Jones, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Antonio Silva, and Rashad Evans. Despite this, notable MMA fighters from the same training camp as Machida stated they felt Machida had won. Fightmetric analysis of the fight suggested that Rua had landed more blows to the head and legs than Machida[26] According to CompuStrike, Shogun landed almost twice as many strikes as Machida did

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

Due to the controversy surrounding the decision, a rematch was immediately announced, which took place at UFC 113 on May 8, 2010 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In one of the most anticipated rematches in history, Rua won via knockout at 3:35 of round 1, after dropping Machida with a right and following up with punches on the ground, and was awarded the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Rua has stated that he would fight Anderson Silva if the fight was offered to him. UFC President Dana White has officially confirmed that Rua's first title defense will be against the winner of the fight between Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans, although Rua has stated interest in wanting his first title defense to be against Randy Couture. Shogun is expected to defend the title against Evans, who defeated Jackson. The date for the fight hasn't been confirmed yet, although, a knee surgery has confirmed Rua's absence from the octagon up to October, 2010

Personal life

Before he was a fighter, "Shogun" worked as a model in Brazil, doing books, pictures, and even fashion shows for brands. Rua stated that he liked the experience, but he stopped because "(he)'s a fighter."

Due to his close relationship with Wanderlei Silva and his brother, Rua has stated that those are the only two people that he would never fight.

On September 12, 2007, Rua married physiotherapist Renata Ribeiro. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Maria Eduarda, on January 15, 2010.

MMA record

Professional record breakdown

23 matches 19 wins 4 losses

By knockout 16 1

By submission 1 2

By decision 2 1

Win 19-4 Lyoto Machida KO (Punches) UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 02010-05-08 May 8, 2010 1 3:35 Montreal, Quebec, Canada Won UFC Light Heavyweight Championship; Won Knockout of the Night

Loss 18–4 Lyoto Machida Decision (Unanimous) UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun 02009-10-24 October 24, 2009 5 5:00 Los Angeles, California For UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Win 18–3 Chuck Liddell TKO (Strikes) UFC 97: Redemption 02009-04-18 April 18, 2009 1 4:28 Montreal, Canada Won Knockout of the Night

Win 17–3 Mark Coleman TKO (Punches) UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson 02009-01-17 January 17, 2009 3 4:36 Dublin, Ireland Won Fight of the Night.

Loss 16–3 Forrest Griffin Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC 76: Knockout 02007-09-22 September 22, 2007 3 4:45 Anaheim, United States UFC Debut.

Win 16–2 Alistair Overeem KO (Punches) PRIDE 33: Second Coming 02007-02-24 February 24, 2007 1 3:37 Las Vegas, United States

Win 15–2 Kazuhiro Nakamura Decision (Unanimous) PRIDE Shockwave 2006 02006-12-31 December 31, 2006 3 5:00 Saitama, Japan

Win 14–2 Kevin Randleman Submission (Kneebar) PRIDE 32: The Real Deal 02006-10-21 October 21, 2006 1 2:35 Las Vegas, United States

Win 13–2 Cyrille Diabate TKO (Soccer Kicks and Stomps) PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute 02006-09-10 September 10, 2006 1 5:29 Saitama, Japan

Loss 12–2 Mark Coleman TKO (Broken Arm) PRIDE 31: Unbreakable 02006-02-26 February 26, 2006 1 0:49 Saitama, Japan

Win 12–1 Ricardo Arona KO (Strikes) PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 02005-08-28 August 28, 2005 1 2:54 Saitama, Japan Won Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Final

Win 11–1 Alistair Overeem TKO (Punches) PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 02005-08-28 August 28, 2005 1 6:42 Saitama, Japan Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Semifinal

Win 10–1 Antônio Rogério Nogueira Decision (Unanimous) PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005 02005-06-26 June 26, 2005 3 5:00 Saitama, Japan Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Quarterfinal

Win 9–1 Quinton Jackson TKO (Soccer Kicks) PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 02005-04-23 April 23, 2005 1 4:47 Osaka, Japan Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Opening Round

Win 8–1 KaneharaHiromitsu Kanehara TKO (Soccer Kick) PRIDE 29: Fists of Fire 02005-02-20 February 20, 2005 1 1:40 Saitama, Japan

Win 7–1 Yasuhito Namekawa TKO (Strikes and Soccer Kicks) PRIDE Bushido 5 02004-10-14 October 14, 2004 1 6:02 Osaka, Japan

Win 6–1 Akihiro Gono TKO (Soccer Kick) PRIDE Bushido 2 02004-02-15 February 15, 2004 1 9:04 Yokohama, Japan

Win 5–1 Akira Shoji TKO (Punches and Stomp) PRIDE Bushido 1 02003-10-05 October 5, 2003 1 3:47 Saitama, Japan

Loss 4–1 Renato Sobral Submission (Guillotine Choke) IFC – Global Domination 02003-09-06 September 6, 2003 3 3:07 Denver, United States IFC Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal

Win 4–0 WanderleiErik Wanderley TKO (Punches) IFC – Global Domination 02003-09-06 September 6, 2003 2 2:54 Denver, United States IFC Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal

Win 3–0 Evangelista Santos TKO (Punches) Meca World Vale Tudo 9 02003-08-01 August 1, 2003 1 2:31 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Win 2–0 Ângelo Antônio TKO (Soccer Kicks) Meca World Vale Tudo 8 02003-05-16 May 16, 2003 1 0:55 Curitiba, Brazil

Win 1–0 Rafael Capoeira KO (Head Kick) Meca World Vale Tudo 7 02002-11-08 November 8, 2002 1 4:00 Curitiba, Brazil

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Winner ? Brazilian Jiu Jitsu South American Championship 80 kg Brazil

5th ? Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Mundial Championship (blue belt level 80 kg Brazil

Muay Thai

Status Date Championship Weight Location

Winner 2003 STORM Muay Thai[35] Middleweight Brazil

Mixed Martial Arts

Status Date Championship Weight Location

Winner 2005 PRIDE Grand Prix Tournament Middleweight Saitama, Japan