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| "Shogun" is of the the most exciting fighters in the UFC today |
He received a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Nino Schembri after winning the Pride 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix. In addition to his black belt in jiu-jitsu, Shogun also has a black belt in the Chute Boxe Muay Thai system under the universally respected Rafael Cordeiro. Rua is currently ranked as the No. 3 Light Heavyweight fighter by Sherdog and MMAWeekly.He is also ranked the No. 10 pound for pound fighter in the world.
Early life
Rua was born and raised in Curitiba, Brazil. His father is a successful businessman that runs his own business, and his mother was a track athleteand is currently a marathon runner. The Rua brothers occasionally run 10 km runs with their mother as well.Shogun has an older brother Murilo(born 1980) and a younger brother Marcos "Shaolin" Rua. Both are mixed martial artists training at Universidade da luta, though Marcos 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 announcerMauro 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 Kick-boxing 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 Erik Wanderlei due to punches, and in the second bout got the first submission loss of his career against Renato Sobral with a guillotine choke in the third round. The loss was considered by some as controversial because despite Shogun moving his arms in a peculiar way to signify a submission, Shogun never actually submitted and was trying use his arms to get his head free of the guillotine choke. It's also considered by some as controversial due to Shogun going on immediately to have success in PRIDE.
Pride Fighting Championship
Following his victory 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 stomps and soccer kicks 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, he entered 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 Maurício 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 fromSherdog.com In the very next fight after his Grand Prix win, Shogun faced heavyweight wrestler and Pride Grand Prix 2000 winner Mark Coleman at Pride 31. As Coleman executed a takedown, Rua landed awkwardly and dislocated his elbow, forcing a stoppage due to injury. 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
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| Shogun suffered an injury in his knee and had surgery |
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 narrowly defeated Coleman by TKO with 24 seconds left in the third round after both fighters were visibly exhausted. 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 at the time 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 went onto defeat Chuck by TKO due to strikes. With this victory, Rua returned to the top-ten rankings for the light heavyweight division, and the UFC decided to put him next in line for a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, which many fans complained about due to his last two previous preformances and the fact that he only held one victory over a top-ten light heavyweight fighter.
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.
Due to the controversy of the decision, of his UFC 104 loss to Machida, a rematch was immediately announced and took place at UFC 113 on May 8, 2010 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 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. Following the victory, Rua underwent surgery in June to repair a knee injured during the bout against Machida. UFC President Dana White officially confirmed that Rua's first title defense would be on March 19, 2011 againstRashad Evans, who had recently won a unanimous decision over Quinton Jackson.
However, following Jon Jones' victory over Ryan Bader at UFC 126, 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 Light Heavyweight Championship. Jones accepted and the fight which took place at UFC 128. Rua later disclosed that Quinton Jackson was offered the title fight but declined, which Jackson confirmed, explaining the reasons he declined was due to the short notice; six weeks and because he would not be able to make weight.
Losing the Title
Rua lost the belt during his first title defense to Jon Jones. Jones was able to overwhelm Rua from start to finish beginning with a flying right knee to the head of Rua mere seconds into the first round. Rua would later attribute that single first knee to greatly affecting his performance for the rest of the bout. Jones eventually ended the fight when he landed a left punch to the body of Rua quickly followed by a knee to the body, causing Shogun to fall to the ground. According to CompuStrike, Jones landed 87 strikes in the contest and Rua just 13. Rua's UFC record changed to 3-3 at the time.
Post-title and future
A rematch with Forrest Griffin took place on August 27, 2011 at UFC 134. 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 has now avenged 3 of his 6 losses.
Rua faced Dan Henderson on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139, losing via unanimous decision. The back and forth action earned both fighters Fight of the Night honors, and was described by many as one of the greatest fights in UFC history. Henderson controlled the match for the first three rounds with strikes and almost ended the fight in the 3rd round, but Rua staggered Henderson in the 4th as exhaustion set in heavily on both fighters. Rua gained full mount over Henderson and held it for most of the final round, but was unable to earn a stoppage.
Personal life
On September 12, 2007, Rua married physiotherapist Renata Ribeiro. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Maria Eduarda, on January 15, 2010.
Before becoming a fighter Rua worked as a model in Brazil, doing books, pictures, and even fashion shows for brands. He later stated that he liked the experience very much but decided to fight exclusively.[citation needed] Due to his relationship with Wanderlei Silva and of course with his own brother, Rua has stated that those are the only two people that he would never fight Maurício is of Italian and Portuguese descent.
Great stuff! :)
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