Mauricio Rua
 |
Name | Mauricio Rua |
| Nickname | Shogun | |
| Association | Universidade de Luta | |
| Weight Class | Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.) | |
| Height | 6' 1" (185 cm) | |
| Reach | 76.0 in (193 cm) | |
| Style | Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | |
| Stance | Orthodox | |
| Birth Date | November 25, 1981 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Curitiba, Brazil | |
| Country | Brazil | |
| Mauricio Rua Pictures | Shogun's Official Site |
Mauricio Milani "Shogun" Rua is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who fights as a Light Heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Rua is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
Rua is also the winner of the PRIDE Fighting Championships' 2005 Middleweight (205lb) Grand Prix. He is known for his aggressive fighting style and for his extreme versatility. He has received a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from Nino Schembri. Mauricio is the younger brother of Murilo "Ninja" Rua.
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 21 - 7 - 0 (Win – Loss – Draw) |
| Wins | 17 (T)KOs 1 Submissions 2 Decisions |
| Losses | 2 (T)KOs 2 Submissions 3 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Alexander Gustafsson | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC on FOX 5: Henderson vs. Diaz | 12/8/2012 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Brandon Vera | TKO (Punches) | UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera | 8/4/2012 | 4 | 4:09 | |
| Loss | Dan Henderson | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson | 11/19/2011 | 5 | 5:00 | Won Co-Fight of the Night |
| Win | Forrest Griffin | KO (Punches) | UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami | 8/27/2011 | 1 | 1:53 | |
| Loss | Jon Jones | TKO (Punches and Knees) | UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones | 3/19/2011 | 3 | 2:37 | Lost UFC Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | Lyoto Machida | KO (Punches) | UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 | 5/08/2010 | 1 | 3:35 | Won UFC Light Heavyweight Championship; Won Knockout of the Night Honors |
| Loss | Lyoto Machida | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun | 10/24/2009 | 5 | 5:00 | For UFC Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | Chuck Liddell | TKO (Punches) | UFC 97: Redemption | 4/18/2009 | 1 | 4:28 | Won Knockout of the Night Honors |
| Win | Mark Coleman | TKO (Punches) | UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson | 1/17/2009 | 3 | 4:36 | Won Fight of the Night Honors |
| Loss | Forrest Griffin | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | UFC 76: Knockout | 9/22/2007 | 3 | 4:45 | UFC debut |
| Win | Alistair Overeem | KO (Punches) | PRIDE 33: Second Coming | 2/24/2007 | 1 | 3:37 | |
| Win | Kazuhiro Nakamura | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE: Shockwave 2006 | 12/31/2005 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Kevin Randleman | Submission (Kneebar) | PRIDE 32: The Real Deal | 10/21/2006 | 1 | 2:35 | |
| Win | Cyrille Diabate | TKO (Stomps) | PRIDE: Final Conflict Absolute | 9/10/2006 | 1 | 5:29 | |
| Loss | Mark Coleman | TKO (Broken Arm) | PRIDE 31: Dreamers | 2/26/2006 | 1 | 0:49 | |
| Win | Ricardo Arona | KO (Punches) | PRIDE: Final Conflict 2005 | 8/28/2005 | 1 | 2:54 | Won PRIDE 2005 Middleweight (205 lbs.) Grand Prix |
| Win | Alistair Overeem | TKO (Punches) | PRIDE: Final Conflict 2005 | 8/28/2005 | 1 | 6:42 | PRIDE 2005 Middleweight (205 lbs.) Grand Prix Semifinals |
| Win | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE: Critical Countdown 2005 | 6/26/2005 | 3 | 5:00 | PRIDE 2005 Middleweight (205 lbs.) Grand Prix Quarterfinals |
| Win | Quinton Jackson | TKO (Soccer Kicks) | PRIDE: Total Elimination 2005 | 4/23/2005 | 1 | 4:47 | PRIDE 2005 Middleweight (205 lbs.) Grand Prix Opening Round |
| Win | Hiromitsu Kanehara | TKO (Stomp) | PRIDE 29: Fists of Fire | 2/20/2005 | 1 | 1:40 | |
| Win | Yasuhito Namekawa | TKO (Punches) | PRIDE Bushido 5 | 10/14/2004 | 1 | 6:02 | |
| Win | Akihiro Gono | TKO (Soccer Kicks) | PRIDE Bushido 2 | 2/15/2004 | 1 | 9:04 | |
| Win | Akira Shoji | KO (Punches) | PRIDE Bushido 1 | 10/05/2003 | 1 | 3:47 | PRIDE debut |
| Loss | Renato Sobral | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | IFC: Global Domination | 9/06/2003 | 3 | 3:07 | IFC Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals |
| Win | Eric Wanderlei | TKO (Punches) | IFC: Global Domination | 9/06/2003 | 2 | 2:54 | IFC Light Heavyweight Tournament Opening Round |
| Win | Evangelista Santos | TKO (Punches) | Meca 9: Meca World Vale Tudo 9 | 8/01/2003 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Angelo Antonio | TKO (Soccer Kicks) | Meca 8: Meca World Vale Tudo 8 | 5/16/2003 | 1 | 0:55 | |
| Win | Rafael Capoeira | KO (Kick) | Meca 7: Meca World Vale Tudo 7 | 11/08/2002 | 1 | 4:00 | |
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.[7] 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.[8] 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
Martial Arts Background
Rua began training martial arts with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of six and Muay Thai at seven, at which he became 10-0. 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 in Muay Thai with the Chute Boxe Academy. In addition to Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he also currently trains in Wrestling and western Boxing.
Meca World Vale Tudo
Rua started his career at the Meca World Vale Tudo event in Brazil. On his debut, Rua fought Rafael Capoeira, knocking him out with a head kick in the first round. At Meca World Vale Tudo 9, Shogun fought and beat now former teammate Evangelista Santos. The fight was very fast paced as "Cyborg" was matching Rua on the feet. This resulted in Rua taking Santos out of his game by taking the fight to the ground where he would eventually stop him after raining down punches from mount.
IFC
Rua's first loss came at the hands of Renato Sobral during the IFC tournament "Global Domination" on September 6, 2003 by submission (guillotine choke). Though the fight was very even, Rua was caught in a guillotine in the third round. "Babalu" had to fight for nearly two minutes in order to adjust the guillotine and get "Shogun" to tap out. Earlier that night, "Shogun" showed great ground skills escaping submission after submission attempt from Eric Wanderlei. Early in the second round, Rua knocked Wanderlei out with punches to the face.
PRIDE Fighting Championship
Rua exhibited a great ground game in his early fights in PRIDE, but defeated his first five opponents in the first rounds with punches, stomps, and soccer kicks. Rua moved on from his PRIDE Bushido fights to the larger PRIDE 29 with his match against Hiromitsu Kanehara, going in referred to by the commentators as the "heir apparent" to famed teammate Wanderlei Silva. He won with soccer kicks and stomps to the face at 1:40 in the first round, with the commentators noting that even famed 225 lb (102 kg) striker Mirko Filipovic wasn't able to take out Kanehara in a full fight.
Rua then entered the PRIDE 2005 205 lb. Grand Prix tournament as a heavy underdog. His first opponent would be Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, whom he had challenged after Jackson won a controversial split decision over his brother, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, at the previous PRIDE event, PRIDE 29. Jackson had been the runner-up in the PRIDE 2003 205 lb. 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 has stated that Rua is the best fighter he has ever fought.
Rua's next fight in the tournament would be against rival academy Brazilian Top Team member Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Rua was able to edge out a unanimous decision against Nogueira. On August 28, 2005, "Shogun" cemented his place in MMA history when he won the 2005 Grand Prix tournament by defeating Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona, both by TKO in the first round.
Rua came back at PRIDE 31 where he suffered his second loss, now at the hands of heavyweight Mark Coleman. The fight was stopped when Rua dislocated his elbow following a takedown by Coleman in which he landed awkwardly. Rua has repeatedly expressed interest in a rematch with Coleman, which he received once he moved to the UFC.
After the elbow injury, Rua returned to the ring on September 10, 2006 to face French striker Cyrille Diabate. Rua defeated Diabate via TKO (stomps). On October 21, 2006, Rua defeated former UFC champion Kevin Randleman with a kneebar two minutes into the first round.
On December 31, 2006, at PRIDE Shockwave 2006, Rua defeated Kazuhiro Nakamura by unanimous decision after out-grappling the judoka. His last fight was a knockout victory at PRIDE 33 in a rematch against Dutchman Alistair Overeem.
By the end of his run at PRIDE, Rua was ranked as the top light heavyweight in the world by Nokaut, Sherdog.com, www.fighting-mma.com and MMAWeekly.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
After the sale of PRIDE FC, Rua signed a lucrative deal with the UFC and made his debut for the organization at UFC 76 on September 22, 2007. Coming to the UFC Mauricio "Shogun" Rua had to make significant changes to adjust himself for the UFC rules (knees and kicks to the head of a downed opponent not allowed in North American MMA Rules).
In his UFC debut, Rua took on The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Forrest Griffin. Widely regarded as the best light heavyweight in the world, Shogun was considered a heavy favorite to win. Rua and Griffin battled in a close fight, with Rua having trouble with the larger Griffin. However, after Rua became exhausted during the second round, he was unable to keep pace against Griffin and repeatedly gave up his back while scrambling on the ground. With only 15 seconds remaining in the fight Griffin locked in a rear naked choke, forcing Rua to tap out. Some blame his poor cardiovascular fitness on the fact that Rua suffered a knee injury during training for the fight, re-injured himself during the fight, and had elective surgery afterwards.
Both Mauricio and his brother Murilo left Chute Boxe Academy in January 2008 with plans to open up their own facility in Massachusetts. The Ruas' new camp was named Universidade da Luta which translates to "University of Fighting" (or just "UDL") and instead was opened in the Ruas' hometown of Curitiba, Brazil.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua suffered a ruptured ACL during training, the same injury he is rumored to have suffered in 2007 during training for his bout against Forrest Griffin. He was then scheduled to have surgery and could not participate in UFC 85. Rashad Evans had been announced as Rua's replacement, however Chuck Liddell then injured his hamstring leaving the bout undecided. Shortly after, a bout between welterweights Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves was set to headline the event. He was medically cleared to regularly train again by October or November. Shogun has been granted a rematch with Mark Coleman at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Shogun defeated Coleman at UFC 93 via TKO with 24 seconds left in the 3rd round. In the fight both fighters gassed early (Coleman in the 1st round and Shogun in the 2nd round) and fought most of the fight with their hands down and finally Shogun was able to take advantage and finish the fight. Shogun Rua vs. Mark Coleman was named co-fight of the night (along with Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle). Shogun, and his "fight of the night" award, received some criticism following his performance in the fight due to the fact that Coleman was 44 years old, hadn't competed in over 2 years, and because of Rua's apparent inability to finish the fight in the first 14 minutes.
In a post-fight press conference, Rua admitted that he was a fan of Coleman, even before he became a professional MMA fighter.
Dana White then announced that Shogun's next fight would take place at UFC 97: Redemption in Montreal, Canada against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell. Shogun earned the Knockout of the Night Award by winning via TKO (Punches) in the first round, giving the Iceman his fourth loss in five fights. He later stated that he would like a rematch with Forrest Griffin.
It was then learned that Rua would next challenge the unbeaten UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun, following the latter's victory over Rashad Evans at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida. Quinton Jackson was thought to be the number one contender for Machida's first title defense, but when it was learned that Rampage and Evans would be coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 10, Rua was given the title shot. The fight took place on October 24, 2009, and Shogun lost a controversial unanimous decision to UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. In a fight where Rua outstruck his opponent in every single one of the five rounds, and left Machida with visible bruises on his face, both legs and the left side of his torso, Rua lost a unanimous decision, as all three judges scored the bout 48-47 in favour of Machida. UFC President Dana White strongly criticized the judging, stating during the post-fight press conference, "I thought Shogun won the fight" and that he was "ready to make the rematch as fast as we can." Both fighters have verbally agreed to a rematch.
Machida vs Rua Controversy
The decision resulted in controversy, with many members of the audience reacting negatively. UFC president Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, Rickson Gracie, Royce Gracie, Rashad Evans, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Rampage Jackson, Randy Couture, Thiago Silva, Jon Jones, Antonio Silva and Frank Trigg stated they felt that Rua won the fight. Writers for a number of sports websites/magazines also claimed they felt Rua had won.
Out of the three judges, Hamilton gave Machida Rounds 2, 3 and 4. Peoples and Rosales each gave Machida the first three rounds. One of the judges (Nelson Hamilton) later commented in a post-fight interview that his line of site was obstructed for much of the action in Round 4, and that after reviewing footage of the round, he likely would have scored the round to Rua. However, since the verdict was unanimous, retroactively changing the score for this judge would still have resulted in a 2-1 split decision in favor of Machida. Hamilton also commented that he felt the commentary had led many fans to believe Shogun had won the fight decisively, when it was a very close, technical and difficult fight to score for all three judges.
There were many in attendance who supported the decision when interviewed afterwards. Among them were other notable MMA fighters, including Minotauro Noguiera, Anderson Silva, Junior dos Santos, Andre Pederneiras and Rafael Cavalcante, all of whom are training partners with Machida.
A Fightmetric analysis of the fight suggested that Rua had been more aggressive and had landed more blows to the head and legs than Machida, while CompuStrike reported that Rua landed almost twice as many strikes as Machida did. Both Fightmetric and Compustrike explicitly state on their websites that they are not intended to be used to judge MMA events, with CompuStrike stating "The CompuStrike program is in no way, shape, or form designed to judge a MMA event."
Machida Re-match
Machida was scheduled to face Rua in a rematch for the title at UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 on May 8, 2010, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The rematch was set for seven months after the original fight due to an injury Machida suffered in his hand during the first fight with Rua. He wasted little time taking the fight to Machida. Whereas the first meeting was a strategic affair with both competitors throwing kicks from distance, "Shogun" quickly let his hands fly in the rematch. He clipped Machida with the blows before the champ took the fight to the mat on two occasions. But Rua quickly escaped, and after the second restart, connected on a beautiful overhand right that sent Machida crashing to the mat.
Rua sensed the finish and quickly followed with nearly a dozen punches until referee Yves Lavigne called for the KO (Punches) stoppage at the 3:35 mark of the opening round. The KO finish not only earned him the UFC Light Heavyweight title and the Knockout of the Night Honors, but he handed Lyoto Machida his first career loss.
UFC Light Heavyweight Title
After defeating Lyoto Machida for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, UFC President Dana White announced that the Light Heavyweight bout between Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans that will take place at UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans will determine who Rua's first title defense will be against. Which the winner via unanimous decision was Rashad Evans
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.
Championships and Accomplishments
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Won Brazilian Jiu Jitsu South American Championship at 80 kg
- 5th place in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Mundial Championship (blue belt level) at 80 kg
- Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Muay Thai
- Won 2003 STORM Muay Thai at Middleweight
Mixed Martial Arts
- Won 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament (2005)
- UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (2010)
Honorary Titles and Awards
- Sherdog 2005 Fighter of the year
- Sherdog 2009 Comeback Fighter of the Year
- Fight of the Night Honors at UFC 93
- Knockout of the Night Honors at UFC 97 and at UFC 113
