One moment in particular moved the Brazilian fans at UFC 301 on May4 in Rio de Janeiro. Just before the JoseAldo-JonathanMartinez co-main event and the AlexandrePantoja-Steve Ercegheadliner, the lights went out in Farmasi Arena and the screenshowed a compilation of impressive knockouts that marked the careerof one of the great names in the sport’s history: Mauricio“Shogun” Rua. Greeted by the testimonies of dozens of fellowlegends and given a standing ovation by the fans, a surprised Ruagrew visibly emotional when he heard the narrator announce hisinduction into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. Few havebeen more deserving than the former Pride Fighting Championships grand prix winner and onetimeUltimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder,who fought 42 times during his 21-year run.
Rua’s most endearing trait was always his incessant search for theknockout. A trademark since he debuted at the age of 20 in 2002, hewas introduced to fans in Curitiba, Brazil as “the brother ofMurilo‘Ninja’ Rua” and a protege of WanderleiSilva, who had just struck gold in Pride by knocking outKazushiSakuraba. “Shogun” needed only four minutes to stop RafaelFreitas in his Nov. 8, 2002 debut, putting away the Brazilianjiu-jitsu black belt and capoeira master with a head kick followedby stomps under the Meca World Vale Tudo banner. Six months later,Rua returned to the organization and introduced the world to whatwould become one of his trademarks, as he knocked out AngeloAntonio de Oliveira with soccer kicks in just 55 seconds.“Shogun” then faced his most difficult test to that point when hetook on the far more experienced EvangelistaSantos at Meca 9. Their war lasted more than nine minutes andwent down in history as one of the most exciting fights ofall-time. Both men suffered knockdowns, but Rua turned the tide inseveral exchanges and disposed of “Cyborg” with punches from themount. He was recognized by the Brazilian media as a true vale tudoshowman for the first time, hence the “Shogun” nickname.
Before taking his burgeoning superstar to Japan, Chute Boxe frontman Rudimar Fedrigo decided to accept an invitefrom the United States for Rua to participate in a three-boutInternational Fighting Championship grand prix. RenatoSobral, Jeremy Horn,ChaelSonnen, ForrestGriffin and ErickWanderley were in the tournament. “Shogun” started with asecond-round knockout of Wanderley, only to submit to a Sobralguillotine choke in the semifinals. “Babalu,” who already had 26fights and stints in the UFC and Rings under his belt, went on towin the grand prix with a decision over Horn in the final.
Rua’s first setback did nothing to shake Pride’s interest in him.He made his company debut less than a month later and punched outAkiraShoji in the first round of their Pride Bushido 1 pairing onOct. 5, 2003 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Crowning Achievement
Rua in 2004 was no longer known as the younger brother of “Ninja,”as he earned the eternal admiration of fans and promoters bybeating three Pride opponents in a row with soccer kicks. Thevictims? Akihiro Gonoat Pride Bushido 2, YasuhitoNamekawa at Pride Bushido 5 and HiromitsuKanehara at Pride 29. The knockout of Kanehara resulted in Ruabeing chosen as the 16th man for the 2005 Pride middleweight grandprix. The loaded tournament field featured DanHenderson, AlistairOvereem, QuintonJackson, KazushiSakuraba, IgorVovchanchyn, VitorBelfort, KevinRandleman, AntonioRogerio Nogueira and RicardoArona, along with a longtime teammate and mentor in Silva. Whatunfolded was one of the most memorable individual runs in MMAhistory.
“Shogun” was matched with one of the favorites in his firstassignment on April 23, 2005 and took on Jackson—a man who haddefeated his brother by split decision two months earlier. Rua wassensational, as he knocked out “Rampage” with a series of knees andsoccer kicks less than five minutes into their encounter. Fromthere, he moved into the quarterfinals two months later and tookpart in one of the greatest fights of all-time with Nogueira.“Minotouro” had submitted Henderson via armbar in his firsttournament bout. Rua bested Nogueira in a three-round war, flashinghis versatility through dominant actions on the ground ahead of aunanimous decision.
Rua returned to Japan on Aug. 28, 2005, aware that if he eliminatedOvereem in the semifinals, he would have to face either a longtimeidol in Silva or Brazilian Top Team’s Arona in the final the same night.Pre-fight controversy surrounded both matchups. While Silva andArona nearly came to blows during their faceoff, Overeem downplayedRua’s skills with some choice words: “Brazil is good at footballand jiu-jitsu. What you do at Chute Boxe is not muay thai.” Neverone to engage in much trash talk, “Shogun” chose to respond in thering and put away Overeem with punches from the mount 6:42 intotheir match. Arona, meanwhile, defeated Silva by unanimousdecision. At age 23, Rua then shouldered the responsibility ofrepresenting Chute Boxe against one of its archenemy’s topstudents. He wiped out Arona with punches less than three minutesinto their emotionally charged final and emerged as the last manstanding in one of the greatest MMA tournaments on record.
“Chute Boxe proved today that, in addition to muay thai, it has thebest ground game for vale tudo,” the Chute Boxe jiu-jitsu coachtold me following the fight, shortly after he had awarded “Shogun”his black belt in the locker room. Rua could not contain his joy.“Today is the happiest day of my life,” he said. “I avengedWanderlei, knocked out Arona an even secured the 4-2 [advantage]over BTT.”
A Final Climb to the Top
After he tore through the grand prix, “Shogun” showed no interestin fighting Silva for the Pride middleweight championship. Silvawent on to defeat Arona and retain his title in their rematch fourmonths later. Between 2005 and 2007, Rua maintained his status asthe most feared 205-pound fighter in the world with victories overRandleman, CyrilleDiabate and KazuhiroNakamura, along with another knockout of Overeem. He sufferedhis only loss in Pride to Mark Coleman,as he broke his arm while defending a takedown from the onetimeOlympian just 49 seconds into their February 2006 pairing.
The UFC acquired Pride in 2007, and Rua followed in Silva’sfootsteps by leaving Chute Boxe and setting up his own team. Earlyreturns were not promising. Without the daily input from Fedrigoand RafaelCordeiro and the notoriously rough sparring sessions affordedto him at the revered gym, Rua’s performance dropped off. Hesubmitted to a rear-naked choke from ForrestGriffin in his Octagon debut at UFC 76. The defeat, however,proved beneficial. After a year of recovering from injuries andsettling on a new training structure, “Shogun” found his best formagain. His brother was instrumental in his resurgence, along withmanager Eduardo Alonso and coaches Sergio Cunha and AndreAmado.
Rua knocked out Coleman in their UFC 93 rematch, blew away ChuckLiddell at UFC 97 and went on to challenge LyotoMachida for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.Interestingly enough, Machida had spent a week training with Rua atChute Boxe in 2006. Machida took a controversial decision from“Shogun” at UFC 104, and the contentious nature of the result ledto an immediate rematch seven months later at UFC 113. There, Ruapunched out “The Dragon” in the first round and effectively endedThe Machida Era.
In his first title defense, “Shogun” found himself pitted againstJonJones—a man many now consider to be the greatest mixed martialartist of all-time. Rua succumbed to punches and knees from the NewYork native in the third round of their UFC 128 main event on March19, 2011. He returned the following August to star alongsideAntonioRodrigo Nogueira and AndersonSilva in the UFC’s long awaited Rio de Janeiro debut. Ruaavenged his previous defeat to Griffin with a first-round knockoutin the co-headliner. He then turned his attention to Henderson, aformer two-division Pride champion, at UFC 139. Henderson walkedaway with a unanimous decision in their unforgettable five-roundwar, which earned numerous “Fight of the Year” awards and was laterenshrined in the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. Again, Rua’sprofile was bolstered in defeat.
From that point forward, injuries, particularly those to his knee,led Rua to drastically reduce his training load—a decision that hada direct impact on his performance. Between 2012 and 2023, “Shogun”engaged in another 16 fights in the UFC and compiled a middling7-8-1 record. He never again regained the past glory that saw himrise to the top of the 205-pound weight class. Still, none of itcould erase the indelible memories he created with his violentartistry, and those exploits will be forever immortalized now thathe has taken his rightful place in the pantheon of the greats.
