Maurício Rua

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Mauricio Rua)
Jump to: navigation, search
Maurício Rua
MauricioRua.png
Rua signing autograph in 2006
Born (1981-11-25) November 25, 1981 (age 31)
Curitiba, Brazil
Other names Shogun
Nationality Brazilian
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Division Light Heavyweight
Reach 76 in (193 cm)
Stance Orthodox
Fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil
Team Chute Boxe (2002–2008)
Universidade da luta (2008–present)[2]
Trainer
Rafael Cordeiro,
Andre Amade
Rank Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Antonio Schembri
Years active 2002 – present (MMA)
Mixed martial arts record
Total 28
Wins 21
By knockout 18
By submission 1
By decision 2
Losses 7
By knockout 2
By submission 2
By decision 3
Notable relatives Murilo Rua (brother)
Website http://www.mauricioshogun.com.br/
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: November 23, 2011

Maurício Milani "Shogun" Rua (Portuguese pronunciation: [mawˈɾisiu ˈʁuɐ]; born November 25, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Champion. As of January 2013, Rua is currently ranked as the #7 light heavyweight in the world by Sherdog.[3]

Contents

Early life

Rua was born and raised in Curitiba, Brazil. His father is a successful businessman who runs his own business, and his mother was a track athlete and is currently a marathon runner. The Rua brothers occasionally run 10 km runs with their mother as well.[4] Shogun has an older brother, Murilo (born 1980), and a younger brother, Marcos "Shaolin" Rua.[4] Both are mixed martial artists training at Universidade da luta, though Marcos does not compete at a professional level.

Rua began training in Muay Thai at the age of 15, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 17.[5] 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 record of 10-0 in Muay Thai competition.[6] 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.[7][8]

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.

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.[9] 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. He received a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Nino Schembri afterwards. This 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 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 tapout 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,[10] Sherdog,[11] and MMAWeekly.com.[12]

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. 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.[13] However, Rua had difficulty with Griffin and became exhausted early on and was dominated for the remainder 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. Shogun who had injured his knee a month before the fight hadn't been able to properly train and further damaged it during the bout, had surgery afterwards while Griffin would soon have minor shoulder surgery to repair a nagging injury.[14][15] Rua left Chute Boxe in January 2008 and opened his own camp, Universidade da luta, with his brother Murilo in his hometown, Curitiba, Brazil.[16]

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. 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 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 from fans, for his lackluster performance against Coleman, who was 44 years old at the time and had not competed in over two years.[17][18] Rua's next fight took place at UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada against former longtime UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell. Shogun went on to defeat Chuck by KO 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 performances 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. The majority of MMA fans and media as well as UFC President Dana White had scored the fight in Shogun's favor. A rematch seemed only appropriate due to the arguable decision.

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

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 becoming the second fighter in MMA History to win a Pride Grand Prix championship and a UFC title. Following the victory, Rua underwent surgery in June to repair a knee injured during the bout against Machida. Then, it was later revealed that Machida had entered their re-match with an injury to his left hand.

After roughly 2 months after winning the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, UFC President: Dana White, would officially confirm that Rua's first title defense would be on March 19, 2011 against Rashad Evans, who had recently won a unanimous decision over Quinton Jackson at UFC 114 on May 29, 2010.

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.[19] 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.[20]

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 the single first knee that Jones landed mere seconds into the fight to greatly affecting his performance for the rest of the bout.[21] Jones kept the pressure on Rua throughout the rest of the fight, utilizing unorthodox striking and ground-and-pound to defeat Shogun in the third round.

Post title

After Rua's loss against Jones, Rua's 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.[22]

Rua faced Dan Henderson on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139, losing via unanimous decision. Henderson was clearly in control for the first three rounds, dropping Rua in the third and nearly finishing him. By the fourth round, the tide began to shift towards Rua, who was able to mount Henderson in the later fourth and fifth rounds. Rua, however, was also exhausted, and was unable to land meaningful or damaging strikes to Henderson from this position. This fight was widely viewed as the "Fight of the Year" for 2011.

Rua was expected to face Thiago Silva on July 21, 2012 at UFC 149.[23] However, Silva was forced out of the bout with an injury.[24]

Rua faced Brandon Vera on August 4, 2012 at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera.[25] In a back-and-forth affair, Shogun managed to drop Vera several times in a tough fight but was able to defeat Vera via TKO due to punches in the 4th round.

Rua faced Alexander Gustafsson on December 8, 2012 at UFC on Fox 5 and lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Rua is expected to face Antônio Rogério Nogueira in a rematch on June 15, 2013 at UFC 161.[26]

Personal life

On September 12, 2007, Rua married physiotherapist Renata Ribeiro.[27] The couple had their first child, a daughter named Maria Eduarda, on January 15, 2010.[28]

Before becoming a fighter Rua worked as a model in Brazil, doing books, pictures, and even fashion shows for brands.[29] He later stated in English, "The first work is fight, and the second is model."[29] 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[30] Maurício is of Italian and Portuguese descent.

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 21–7 Sweden Alexander Gustafsson Decision (unanimous) UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz 02012-12-08December 8, 2012 3 5:00 Seattle, Washington, United States
Win 21–6 United States Brandon Vera TKO (punches) UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera 02012-08-04August 4, 2012 4 4:09 Los Angeles, California, United States
Loss 20–6 United States Dan Henderson Decision (unanimous) UFC 139 02011-11-19November 19, 2011 5 5:00 San Jose, California, United States Fight of the Night. 2011 Fight of the Year.
Win 20–5 United States Forrest Griffin KO (punches) UFC 134 02011-08-27August 27, 2011 1 1:53 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Loss 19–5 United States Jon Jones TKO (punches & knees) UFC 128 02011-03-19March 19, 2011 3 2:37 Newark, New Jersey, United States Lost UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Win 19–4 Brazil Lyoto Machida KO (punches) UFC 113 02010-05-08May 8, 2010 1 3:35 Montreal, Quebec, Canada Won UFC Light Heavyweight Championship; Knockout of the Night; 2010 KO of the Year.
Loss 18–4 Brazil Lyoto Machida Decision (unanimous) UFC 104 02009-10-24October 24, 2009 5 5:00 Los Angeles, California, United States For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Win 18–3 United States Chuck Liddell TKO (punches) UFC 97 02009-04-18April 18, 2009 1 4:28 Montreal, Quebec, Canada Knockout of the Night.
Win 17–3 United States Mark Coleman TKO (punches) UFC 93 02009-01-17January 17, 2009 3 4:36 Dublin, Ireland Fight of the Night.
Loss 16–3 United States Forrest Griffin Submission (rear naked choke) UFC 76 02007-09-22September 22, 2007 3 4:45 Anaheim, California, United States
Win 16–2 Netherlands Alistair Overeem KO (punches) Pride 33 02007-02-24February 24, 2007 1 3:37 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 15–2 Japan Kazuhiro Nakamura Decision (unanimous) Pride Shockwave 2006 02006-12-31December 31, 2006 3 5:00 Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Win 14–2 United States Kevin Randleman Submission (kneebar) Pride 32 02006-10-21October 21, 2006 1 2:35 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 13–2 France Cyrille Diabaté KO (stomps) Pride Final Conflict Absolute 02006-09-10September 10, 2006 1 5:29 Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Loss 12-2 United States Mark Coleman TKO (broken arm) Pride 31 02006-02-26February 26, 2006 1 0:49 Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Win 12–1 Brazil Ricardo Arona KO (punches) Pride Final Conflict 2005 02005-08-28August 28, 2005 1 2:54 Saitama, Saitama, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight GP Champion.
Win 11–1 Netherlands Alistair Overeem TKO (punches) Pride Final Conflict 2005 02005-08-28August 28, 2005 1 6:42 Saitama, Saitama, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight GP Semifinal.
Win 10–1 Brazil Antônio Rogério Nogueira Decision (unanimous) Pride Critical Countdown 2005 02005-06-26June 26, 2005 3 5:00 Saitama, Saitama, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight GP Quarterfinal; 2005 Fight of the Year.
Win 9–1 United States Quinton Jackson TKO (soccer kicks) Pride Total Elimination 2005 02005-04-23April 23, 2005 1 4:47 Osaka, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight GP Opening Round.
Win 8–1 Japan Hiromitsu Kanehara KO (soccer kick) Pride 29 02005-02-20February 20, 2005 1 1:40 Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Win 7–1 Japan Yasuhito Namekawa KO (punch and soccer kicks) Pride Bushido 5 02004-10-14October 14, 2004 1 6:02 Osaka, Japan
Win 6–1 Japan Akihiro Gono KO (soccer kick) Pride Bushido 2 02004-02-15February 15, 2004 1 9:04 Kanagawa, Japan
Win 5–1 Japan Akira Shoji KO (punches & stomp) Pride Bushido 1 02003-10-05October 5, 2003 1 3:47 Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Loss 4–1 Brazil Renato Sobral Submission (guillotine choke) IFC: Global Domination 02003-09-06September 6, 2003 3 3:07 Denver, Colorado, United States
Win 4–0 Brazil Erik Wanderlei KO (punches) IFC: Global Domination 02003-09-06September 6, 2003 2 2:54 Denver, Colorado, United States
Win 3–0 Brazil Evangelista Santos KO (punches) Meca World Vale Tudo 9 02003-08-01August 1, 2003 1 8:12 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win 2–0 Brazil Angelo de Oliveira KO (soccer kicks) Meca World Vale Tudo 8 02003-05-16May 16, 2003 1 0:55 Curitiba, Brazil
Win 1–0 Brazil Rafael Freitas KO (head kick) Meca World Vale Tudo 7 02002-11-08November 8, 2002 1 4:00 Curitiba, Brazil

See also

References

  1. ^ "Maurício "Shogun" Rua Pride Profile". Pride FC. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 
  2. ^ "The downfall of BTT and Chute Boxe". ESPN.com. 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2008. 
  3. ^ "Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings". sherdog.com. January 28, 2013. Retrieved 2013-1-28. 
  4. ^ a b "NINJA AND SHOGUN INTERVIEW". PrideFC. December 1, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 
  5. ^ "MAURÍCIO RUA INTERVIEW". PrideFC. December 27, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 
  6. ^ Commentator Mauro Ranallo, at 0:15 of round 1 of Maurício Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara, PRIDE 29. "Shogun started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of six, Muay Thai at seven. Was 10 and 0 in Muay Thai."
  7. ^ "Maurício Shogun e Murilo Ninja butt". Portal do VT. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. "I have been training a lot of Muay Thai, a lot of Jiu Jitsu, a lot of Wrestling" [dead link]
  8. ^ "Ninja e Shogun at Chute Boxe". Dailymotion. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 
  9. ^ "Mixed martial arts notebook Well-traveled UFC president has big plans for the sport". OregonLive.com. June 22, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. "Add UFC news: White recently signed Maurício 'Shogun' Rua, who [sic] current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson called the best fighter he'd ever faced. Rua (16–2) will make his UFC debut Sept. 22" 
  10. ^ "Nokaut's TOP 10 Fighter Rankings". Nokaut. August 18, 2007. 
  11. ^ "Sherdog's Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings". Sherdog. August 13, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 
  12. ^ "LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION Top 10 Ranking". MMAWeekly.com. August 8, 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2007. 
  13. ^ "Shogun to Face Griffin, Not Machida". Nokaut.com. July 19, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2007. 
  14. ^ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/781724-ufc-134-will-lightning-strike-twice-for-forrest-griffin-against-shogun-rua
  15. ^ "Shogun goes under the knife". mmafrenzy. September 26, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007. 
  16. ^ "Mauricio "Shogun" Rua Looking Forward To New Camp". MMAFightLine. January 28, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2008. 
  17. ^ "Rua rewarded despite atrocious performance". 
  18. ^ "WEC, Condit continue together". USATODAY.com. April 27, 2008. Retrieved 08–07–06. 
  19. ^ "Rashad Evans hurt, Jon Jones now challenges Shogun Rua for title at UFC 128". mmajunkie.com. February 5, 2011. 
  20. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/22381/after-rampage-jackson-declined-jon-jones-got-ufc-128-title-fight.mma
  21. ^ "Shogun s'exprime après sa défaite : "Je suis dégoûté" (avec photos)". riddum.com. March 25, 2011. 
  22. ^ "Forrest Griffin vs. Mauricio Rua Rematch to Take Place at UFC Rio Event". MMAfighting. April 15, 2011. 
  23. ^ "Thiago Silva vs. Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua likely at UFC 149 in Calgary". mmajunkie. April 29, 2012. 
  24. ^ "Thiago Silva out at UFC 149, UFC wants 'Shogun' Rua vs. Glover Teixeira". mmajunkie.com. June 1, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2012. 
  25. ^ Mrosko, Gene (June 6, 2012). "New UFC on FOX 4 main event announced: Shogun Rua vs Brandon Vera". mmamania.com. Retrieved June 6, 2012. 
  26. ^ John Morgan (2013-03-05). "UFC 161 set for Winnipeg with Nogueira-Rua targeted". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved March 5, 2013. 
  27. ^ The Chute Boxe athlete had married in the last September first with the physiotherapist Renata Ribeiro in Maringá , Paraná state,
  28. ^ "Shogun becomes father of baby girl". Tatame.com. January 15, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2010. 
  29. ^ a b Rua, Maurício (Sep 1, 2011). Photo Shoot. Interview with Seth Kelly, Editor in Chief of UFC Magazine. UFC Ultimate Insider. San Diego, California.
  30. ^ "SHOGUN: THE BRAZILIAN MMA PRESS IS MANIPULATED BY JOINHA". 2010-01-09. Retrieved 2010-01-09. 
  31. ^ Charttopper (2011-12-01). "’2010 World MMA Award’ Results". themmanews.com. Retrieved 2012-08-05. 
  32. ^ a b Staff (2006=01=01). "SHERDOG.COM NAMES "SHOGUN" & GOMI 2005 FIGHTERS OF THE YEAR". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2012=08=05. 
  33. ^ Brian Knapp (2010=10=01). "SHERDOG.COM NAMES "SHERDOG'S 2009 AWARDS: THE COMPLETE LIST". sherdog.com. 
  34. ^ Meltzer, Dave (January 30, 2012). "Jan 30 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Gigantic year-end awards issue, best and worst in all categories plus UFC on FX 1, death of Savannah Jack, ratings, tons and tons of news". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Campbell, CA). ISSN 10839593. 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mauricio Rua

External links

Preceded by
Lyoto Machida		 11th UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
May 8, 2010 – March 20, 2011		 Succeeded by
Jon Jones
Preceded by
Wanderlei Silva		 Pride FC Middleweight Tournament winner
August 28, 2005
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maurício_Rua&oldid=553050719"