Maurício Milani Rua (; born 25 November 1981), also known as Shogun, is a Brazilian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. He competed in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2002, Rua is also the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion.

Background

Rua was born on 25 November 1981 and raised in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

, Brazil and is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and Portuguese descent. Rua's father is a businessman and his mother is a former track athlete and, as of 2005, a marathon runner. He has an older brother, Murilo (nicknamed Ninja, born 1980), and a younger brother, Marcos (nicknamed Shaolin). Both are mixed martial artists training at Universidade da luta, though Marcos does not compete at a professional level. The Rua brothers occasionally take 10-kilometre runs with their mother. Rua began training in

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

at the age of 15 and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 17. Rua followed his older brother in training at the Chute Boxe Academy, and was successful in BJJ championships at the blue and purple belt levels. In addition to Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, by 2007 he was also training wrestling and boxing.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Rua started his professional career at

vale tudo Vale Tudo or vale-tudo (; ), also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few Regulation of sport, rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventua ...

events in Brazil, achieving three stoppages due to strikes, including a win over future Chute Boxe Academy 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 Championships's (IFC) Global Domination Tournament. Rua won his first bout against Erik Wanderlei due to punches, and in the second bout got the first submission loss of his career against

Renato Sobral Renato Sobral da Cunha (; born 7 September 1975), also known as "Babalu", is a retired Brazilian Luta Livre submission grappler, mixed martial artist, and was the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. Sobral previously fought in the U ...

with a guillotine in the third round.

PRIDE Fighting Championship

PRIDE Debut, Bushido and PRIDE 29

Following his victory in the IFC tournament, Shogun made his way to Japan to enter the

PRIDE Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

organization. He made his PRIDE debut at the inaugural

PRIDE Bushido 1 The year 2003 was the 7th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2003 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 25 - Body Blow''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follo ...

, a side promotion for lighter fighters. In his three Bushido appearances, Rua defeated

Akira Shoji Akira Shoji (小路晃) (born January 31, 1974) is a retired Japanese mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is most known as being a regular in almost all the beginning Pride Fighting Championship Shoji was in Pri ...

, Akihiro Gono, and

Yasuhito Namekawa (born October 27, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division. Namekawa made his mixed martial arts debut for Fighting Network RINGS in 1998. He fought in mainly shootfighting bouts until 1999 when ...

, all by strikes in the first round. Rua graduated to his debut in a main PRIDE event at '' PRIDE 29'', where he faced former professional wrestler Hiromitsu Kanehara, a Japanese fighter known for his toughness. Rua defeated Kanehara by stomps early in the first round.

PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix

He entered the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament as an underdog. For the first round of the tournament at '' PRIDE Total Elimination 2005'', he faced

Quinton Jackson Quinton Ramone Jackson (born June 20, 1978), known by his ring name of Rampage Jackson, is an American rapper, former mixed martial artist, actor, kickboxer, and professional wrestler. During the course of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, ...

, whom he had challenged after Jackson won a controversial split decision over Murilo Rua at '' PRIDE 29''. Rua 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 said that Shogun was the best fighter he had ever fought. In the second round at '' PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005'', Rua faced Antônio Rogério Nogueira, a member of Chute Boxe's rival academy Brazilian Top Team. Rua defeated Nogueira by unanimous decision. On 28 August 2005, Rua participated in '' PRIDE Final Conflict 2005'', in which the last two bouts of the tournament were held on the same night. Rua defeated

Alistair Overeem Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and was the first fight ...

by TKO in the first round, while

Ricardo Arona Ricardo Arona (; born 17 July 1978) is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist, submission grappler and 4th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt practitioner. A two-time World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu champion in the lower belts ...

defeated Rua's teammate

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the most wins, knockouts, ...

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 Champion. He received a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Nino Schembri afterwards, a process that only took him four years from when he got his purple belt. This wrapped up a year in which he won Fighter of the Year honors from Sherdog.com.

Incident with Hammer House

In the next fight after his Grand Prix win, Shogun faced

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

wrestling star and PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Champion

Mark Coleman Mark Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first List of UFC champions#Tournament ...

at '' PRIDE 31''. As Coleman executed a takedown, Rua landed awkwardly and dislocated his elbow, forcing a stoppage due to injury. Coleman was pulled off of Shogun by the referee, and was confronted immediately by members of Rua's corner. This led to an in-ring brawl between Hammer House and Chute Boxe.

End of PRIDE career

At '' PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute'' he defeated French kickboxer Cyrille Diabate by tapout due to stomps. At '' Pride 32'' he submitted former UFC Heavyweight Champion

Kevin Randleman Kevin Christopher Randleman (August 10, 1971 – February 11, 2016) was an American mixed martial artist, amateur and professional wrestler, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Randleman's background was in collegiate wrestling, in which he ...

with a kneebar at 2:35 of the first round, the only submission victory of his career. In his final

appearance at '' Pride 33'', he fought a rematch with

and knocked the Dutch fighter out at 3:37 of the first round. By the end of his run at PRIDE, Rua was ranked as the top

Light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

in the world by Nokaut,

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

, and MMAWeekly.com.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After the UFC bought out PRIDE, Shogun signed on with the UFC and made his debut in the organization at '' UFC 76''. Facing The Ultimate Fighter 1 Winner Forrest Griffin, Rua was favoured to win. However, Rua had difficulty with Griffin and became exhausted early on and was dominated for the remainder of the fight. He succumbed to a

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

in the final seconds of the third round. He then had surgery for a pre-existing knee injury. Rua left Chute Boxe in January 2008 and opened his own camp, Universidade da luta, with his brother Murilo in

. In the months following his surgery Rua completely reruptured damaged ligaments during training and was forced to undergo a second knee surgery. This forced him to drop out of ''

UFC 85 ''UFC 85: Bedlam'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on June 7, 2008, at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. Background The card was plagued by a number of injuries sustained by scheduled fight ...

''. He was granted a rematch with

at ''

UFC 93 ''UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 17, 2009 at The O2, Dublin in Dublin, Ireland. Background The main event featured a Light Heavyweight bout between fo ...

'' in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. 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 from fans for his lackluster performance against Coleman, who was 44 years old at the time and had not competed in over two years. Rua's next fight took place at ''

UFC 97 ''UFC 97: Redemption'' (not to be confused with ''UFC 17: Redemption'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on April 18, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Background This event broke the UFC attendanc ...

'' in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

against former longtime

UFC Light heavyweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight class ...

Chuck Liddell Charles David Liddell (born December 17, 1969) is an American former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2018, Liddell is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (from 2005 to 2007) and i ...

. Rua won by KO due to strikes. With this victory, Rua returned to the top-ten rankings for the

division, and the UFC decided to put him next in line for a title shot.

Title bouts with Machida

At ''

UFC 104 ''UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on October 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Background As with UFC 103, the UFC announced a portion of the preliminary card would ...

'' Shogun lost by unanimous decision to UFC Light heavyweight Champion

Lyoto Machida is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as a UFC Middleweight Championship title challenger. He mos ...

. All three judges scored the bout 48–47 in Machida's favor. Journalists and UFC President

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

had scored the fight in Rua's favor. Due to the controversy of the

decision, a rematch was immediately announced and took place at ''

UFC 113 ''UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 8, 2010, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Background UFC 113 featured the rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauríci ...

'' on 8 May 2010 in Montreal. Rua won via knockout at 3:35 of round 1, after dropping Machida with a right and following up with punches on the ground. He was awarded the UFC Light heavyweight Championship, becoming just the second fighter to have won PRIDE and UFC titles. Following the victory, Rua underwent surgery in June to repair a knee injured during the bout against Machida.

UFC Light heavyweight Champion

Rua's first title defense was scheduled on 19 March 2011 against

Rashad Evans Rashad Evans (born September 25, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competed in the Light Heavyweight (MMA), Light Heavyweight division. Evans started his professional MMA career in 2003, and was the Heavyw ...

, who had won by unanimous decision over

UFC 114 ''UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 29, 2010 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC Fan Expo took place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Back ...

on 29 May 2010. However, following

Jon Jones Jonathan Dwight Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the ...

's victory over

Ryan Bader Ryan Bader ( ; born June 7, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of RIZIN. He previously competed for Bellator MMA where he was the Bellator Heavyweight Champion, and still holds the record for th ...

UFC 126 ''UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background Former Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor ...

, it was announced that Evans had blown his knee out in training and would not be able to face Rua. Jones was told during his post-fight interview that the UFC wanted him to replace Evans against Rua for the

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight clas ...

. Jones accepted and the fight was programmed for

UFC 128 ''UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Background This event was expected to take place in Abu Dhab ...

was also offered the title fight but declined, as six weeks' notice did not provide enough time to make weight. In the title fight, Jones began the fight with a

flying knee A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike (attack), strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent. ...

to the head. Rua later said the blow greatly affected his performance for the rest of the bout. Jones kept the pressure on Rua throughout the rest of the fight, utilizing unorthodox striking and

ground and pound Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the solid terrestrial surface of the Earth * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical circ ...

and winning the fight via TKO in Round 3.

Post title fights

After the loss to Jones, Rua's rematch with Forrest Griffin took place on 27 August 2011 at

UFC 134 ''UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami'' (also known as ''UFC Rio'') was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena (Rio de Janeiro), HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ...

. In a match that looked like the complete opposite of their original bout, Shogun demonstrated good head movement and footwork, as well as good accuracy and striking power, to win the bout via KO early in the first round. Rua had now avenged three of his six losses. Rua faced

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American former mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a Middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

on 19 November 2011 at

UFC 139 ''UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It was the first UFC event in San Jose, the longtime home and base ar ...

, losing via unanimous decision. Henderson was in control for most of the first three rounds, dropping Rua in the third. In the fourth round, the momentum started to shift towards Rua, who was able to mount Henderson. Despite the decision loss, Rua was awarded a ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award. This fight is widely viewed as the "Fight of the Year" for 2011. This fight was also inducted into the 2018

UFC Hall of Fame The UFC Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In a ...

. Rua was expected to face

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fluminense. Regarded as one of the best defenders of all time, he is known ...

on 21 July 2012, at UFC 149. However, Silva was forced out of the bout with an injury. Rua faced

Brandon Vera Brandon Michael Vera (born October 10, 1977), or also known by his ring name as The Truth, is a Filipino and American retired mixed martial artist where he was the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Champion and the 2005 WEC Heavyweight Grand Prix Champ ...

on 4 August 2012, at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera. In a back-and-forth affair, Shogun managed to drop Vera several times and won by TKO due to punches in the fourth round. Rua faced

Alexander Gustafsson Alexander Lars-Åke Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA career in ...

on 8 December 2012, at

UFC on Fox 5 ''UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 5'') was a mixed martial arts event that was held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 8, 2012, at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. It was broadcast live on Fox Sports. ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Rua was expected to face Antônio Rogério Nogueira in a rematch at

UFC 161 ''UFC 161: Evans vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts event held on June 15, 2013, at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Background While the UFC has hosted several events in the past in Canada, the event was the first that the or ...

. However, Nogueira pulled out of the bout in the days leading up to the event citing a back injury. Perennial multi-divisional contender

Chael Sonnen Chael Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

was briefly linked as a replacement for Nogueira but eventually Rua was pulled from the event altogether. On 17 August 2013, at

UFC Fight Night 26 ''UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 26'') was a mixed martial arts event held on August 17, 2013, at the TD Garden in Boston. Background The event was the first UFC event broadcast on Fox Sports 1. The main ev ...

, Rua faced

in the main event. He lost the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the first round. Rua next faced

James Te Huna James Te Huna (born 29 September 1981) is a New Zealand retired professional mixed martial artist, best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the first Australian-based fighter to win a UFC fight on Australian soil, a ...

on 7 December 2013, at UFC Fight Night 33. He won the fight via first round knockout. The win also earned Rua his third ''Knockout of the Night'' bonus award. A rematch with

took place on 23 March 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 38 ''UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Henderson 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 38'') was a mixed martial arts event held on March 23, 2014, at the Ginásio Nélio Dias in Natal, Brazil. Background The event was headlined by the anticipated rematc ...

. After winning the first two rounds and scoring a knockdown in each, he was defeated via strikes in the third round. Despite the TKO loss, Rua was given his third ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award, his second for a bout against Henderson. Rua sustained a broken nose in his fight with Henderson that required surgery. On 29 October 2014, it was announced that Rua would coach opposite

Anderson Silva Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and professional boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 ...

for The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4, which began filming in early 2015. Despite being coaches on the show, the two fighters will not face each other at the end of the season. In September 2014, Rua revealed that he had signed a new, eight-fight contract with the UFC. Rua was expected to face

Jimi Manuwa Babajimi Abiola "Jimi" Manuwa (born 18 February 1980) is an American-born English retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competed in the Light heavyweight (MMA), light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. E ...

on 8 November 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 56 ''UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 56'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the Ginásio Municipal Tancredo Neves in Uberlândia, Brazil, on November 8, 2014. Background After previously holding event ...

. However, on 29 October, it was revealed that Manuwa was injured and was replaced by Ovince St. Preux. Rua lost the fight via knockout at just 34 seconds into the first round, the fastest knockout loss of his career. Ten years after their first bout, Rua had a rematch against former opponent Antônio Rogério Nogueira on 1 August 2015 at

UFC 190 ''UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia'' was a mixed martial arts event held on August 1, 2015, at the Jeunesse Arena, HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between former ...

. He won the fight by unanimous decision and both participants were awarded ''Fight of the Night'' honors. A long discussed bout against

was rescheduled and was expected to take place on 16 April 2016 at

UFC on Fox 19 ''UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 19'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 16, 2016, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Background The event was the second that the organization has hosted in the Tampa Bay A ...

. However, Rua was pulled from the fight on 9 March in favor of a matchup with Corey Anderson a couple of weeks later at

UFC 198 ''UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic'' was a mixed martial arts event held on May 14, 2016, at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil. Background The event was initially announced as a ''Fight Night'' event with a middleweight bout between former UFC Lig ...

. Rua was awarded a split decision victory. Rua next faced

Gian Villante Gianpiero Villante (born August 18, 1985) is a retired American mixed martial artist who previously fought in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional from 2009 to 2021, he also has competed for Strikeforce ...

on 11 March 2017 at

UFC Fight Night 106 ''UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 106'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on March 11, 2017, at the Centro de Formação Olímpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, ...

. He won the fight via technical knock-out in the third round. A rematch with

Ovince Saint Preux Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most notably competed in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions of the UFC, challenging once for the interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championshi ...

was expected to take place on 22 September 2017 at UFC Fight Night 117. However, Rua pulled out of the fight as the event was approaching on 16 September and was replaced by returning veteran

Yushin Okami is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2002, Okami has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Pancrase, M-1 Global, World Series of Fighting, DEEP, Professional Fighters League, and ONE Championship. He is regarded as one o ...

. Rua was expected to face

Volkan Oezdemir Volkan Oezdemir (born 19 September 1989) is a Swiss professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2010, Oezdemir ...

on 12 May 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 129 ''UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Usman'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 129'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on May 19, 2018, at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. Background The event m ...

. However it was reported on 13 April 2018 that Oezdemir was pulled from the event due to alleged

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

issues restricting his travel to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. The pairing was left intact and rescheduled for 22 July 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 134 ''UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 134'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 22, 2018, at Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Background The event was ...

, However the bout was cancelled once again after promotion officials elected to pull Oezdemir from that fight in favor of a matchup against

the following month at

UFC 227 ''UFC 227: Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt 2'' was a mixed martial arts event that was produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship and held on August 4, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Background A UFC Bantamweight Championshi ...

. He was replaced by Anthony Smith. Rua lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Rua faced

Tyson Pedro Tyson Pedro (born 17 September 1991) is an Australian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Pedro is an Australian of American Samoan h ...

on 2 December 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 142 ''UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Tuivasa'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 142'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on December 2, 2018 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Au ...

. He won the fight via technical knockout in round three, finishing Pedro with a flurry of strikes after Pedro suffered a leg injury and was unable to defend himself. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Rua was expected to face

Sam Alvey Sam Alvey (born May 6, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is the current Karate Combat Heavyweight Champion. A professional MMA competi ...

on 16 November 2019 at

UFC on ESPN+ 22 ''UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 22'' and ''UFC Vegas 24'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 17, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterpri ...

. However, Alvey was removed from the fight on 25 October due to a broken hand and was replaced by

Paul Craig Paul Lindsey Craig (born 27 November 1987) is a Scottish mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2013, Craig formerly competed for BAMMA, where h ...

. After three rounds, the back-and-forth fight was declared a split draw. A third bout with Antônio Rogério Nogueira was scheduled to take place on 9 May 2020 at

UFC 250 ''UFC 250: Nunes vs. Spencer'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 6, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. I ...

. However, the bout was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The bout eventually took place on 26 July 2020 at

UFC on ESPN 14 ''UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 14'' and ''UFC Fight Island 3'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 26, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu ...

. He won the fight via split decision. A rematch with

took place on 21 November 2020 at UFC 255. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round two when he tapped to strikes for the second time in his career. Rua had a rematch against

on 7 May 2022 at

UFC 274 ''UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 7, 2022, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Background The event was originally linke ...

. He lost the fight via split decision. Rua faced Ihor Potieria on January 21, 2023, at

UFC 283 ''UFC 283: Teixeira vs. Hill'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 21, 2023, at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event marked the promotion's return ...

. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round and Rua announced his retirement during the post-fight interview. Hall of Fame At UFC 301 on May 4, 2024, it was announced that Rua would be inducted into the 2024

under the Modern Wing.

Global Fight League

Rua was scheduled to come out of retirement to face

Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate ...

at a

to be announced To be announced (TBA) is a placeholder term used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a particular aspect of it remains to be fixed or set. Other versions of the term include to be ...

date and location. However, Rua withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985) is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. Mousasi most recently competed in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. He is also the former DREAM Light Heavywe ...

. In turn, in April 2025, it was reported that all GFL events were cancelled indefinitely.

Personal life

On 12 September 2007, Rua married physiotherapist Renata Ribeiro. Their first child, a daughter, was born on 15 January 2010. Before becoming a fighter, Rua worked as a model in Brazil, doing books, pictures, and even fashion shows for brands. Of this time, he once said "The first work is fight, and the second is model." In 2020, Rua underwent a hair transplant procedure at Vinci Hair Clinic to address hair loss as he neared the end of his fighting career.

Championships and achievements

PRIDE Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

** 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion *

(One time) **

(Fight Wing, Class of 2018) vs.

1 at

( Modern Wing, Class of 2024) ** Knockout of the Night (

Three times ''Three Times'' () is a 2005 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It consists of three separate stories of romance, set in different eras, using the same lead actors, Shu Qi and Chang Chen. In "A Time for Love," set in 1966, a soldier (C ...

) vs.

2 and

** Fight of the Night ( Four times) vs.

(x2), Antônio Rogério Nogueira ** Performance of the Night ( One time) vs.

**Tied (

) for second most fight-night bonuses in UFC Light Heavyweight division history (8) **Second most knockouts in UFC Light Heavyweight division history (8) ***Third most knockouts in

Zuffa, LLC TKO Operating Company, LLC (TKO OpCo), doing business as Zuffa (), is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III ...

(

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

, WEC,

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

) history (17) (behind

and

Mirko Cro Cop Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a Croatian former professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro ...

) **Second most bouts in modern UFC Light Heavyweight division history (24) **Tied (

) for most knockdowns landed in UFC Light Heavyweight division history (14) **Fourth most significant strikes landed in UFC Light Heavyweight division history (888) **Third most total strikes landed in UFC Light Heavyweight division history (1337) **UFC.com Awards *** 2009: Ranked #5 Fighter of the Year, Loss of the Year & Ranked #9 Fight of the Year ***2010 Half-Year Awards: Best Fighter of the 1HY, Ranked #2 Knockout of the Year , Ranked #7 Knockout of the Year & Ranked #3 Fighter of the Year ***2011:

Fight of the Year Fight of the Year is an award given to the boxing match considered to be the best fight that year. It is awarded by a variety of different institutions. It may refer to: * ''The Ring'' magazine Fight of the Year – awarded by ''The Ring'' magazi ...

***2013: Ranked #3 Knockout of the Year ***2014: Ranked #9 Fight of the Year *

World MMA Awards The World MMA Awards are awards presented by ''Fighters Only'' magazine to honor exceptional performance in various aspects of mixed martial arts. Winners are presented with the ''Fighters Only silver statuette''. The World MMA Awards are divided ...

**2010 Knockout of the Year vs.

**2005 Fighter of the Year **2005 Fight of the Year versus Antônio Rogério Nogueira on 26 June **2009 Comeback Fighter of the Year **Mixed Martial Arts Hall of Fame *

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll betwee ...

**2011 Fight of the Year versus

on 19 November

Mixed martial arts record

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Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

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Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

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Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest city in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the si ...

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, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Henderson 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:31 ,

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 22–8 ,

, KO (punch) , UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Bigfoot , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:03 , ,

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Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 21–7 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 21–6 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:09 ,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

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, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:53 ,

, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 19–5 ,

, TKO (punches and knees) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:37 ,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

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, KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:35 ,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–4 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 18–3 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

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, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:36 ,

, Ireland , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–3 , Forrest Griffin , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC 76 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:45 ,

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

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, KO (punches) , PRIDE 33 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:37 ,

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Kazuhiro Nakamura Kazuhiro Nakamura ( , born July 16, 1979) is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist who competed as a middleweight in DREAM, and is a former DEEP middleweight champion. He fought out of the Yoshida Dojo and also competed in the Pride Fighting ...

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PRIDE 32 ''Pride 32: The Real Deal'' was a mixed martial arts event and was held by the Pride Fighting Championships. The event took place on October 21, 2006, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background This was the first Pride event to ...

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Cyrille Diabaté Cyrille Moktar Diabaté (born October 6, 1973) is a retired French mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has also competed in shoot boxing and Muay Thai. He has fought at Palace Fighting Championship, Tachi Palace Fights, PRIDE, ShoXC, Deep, ...

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, TKO (soccer kicks) , PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:47 ,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Hiromitsu Kanehara , TKO (stomp) , PRIDE 29 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

PRIDE Bushido 5 The year 2004 was the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

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, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Akihiro Gono , TKO (soccer kicks) ,

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Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

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, KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:47 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 ,

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Pay-per-view bouts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rua, Mauricio 1981 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian male Muay Thai practitioners Martial artists from Curitiba Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

PRIDE Fighting Championship

PRIDE Debut, Bushido and PRIDE 29

PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix

Incident with Hammer House

End of PRIDE career

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Title bouts with Machida

UFC Light heavyweight Champion

Post title fights

Global Fight League

Personal life

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts record

Pay-per-view bouts

See also

References

External links