Issue 066

September 2010

UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua might be a former model, but he’s one of the most dangerous and versatile fighters in the sport today. A highly talented kickboxer and black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Rua is the third Brazilian to hold the 205lb title (after Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida). He made history when he became the first person to defeat the karate-stylist Machida, scoring a first round TKO in May this year. 

STATISTICS

Name Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua 

Age 28 

Height 6’0” 

Category Light heavyweight 

Record 19-4-0 

16 (T)KOs (85%) 

1 Sub (5%) 

Fighting Style Muay Thai / Brazilian jiu-jitsu 

Fights out of Curitiba, Brazil  

Active since 2002

Shogun’s acrobatic and intense style has made him one of the most popular fighters to come out of Brazil in recent years. During his mid-decade stint with Pride Fighting Championships in Japan, he was renowned for his stunning high kicks, dynamic modus operandi and ruthless finishing ability. It wasn’t unusual to see him throw spinning kicks in mid-air or attempt flying head stomps, and he racked up over a dozen wins (including two over an admittedly smaller-back-then Alistair Overeem when the Dutchman was still a light heavyweight) before signing with the UFC in 2007. 

Rua’s disastrous debut with the UFC (a third-round submission loss to Forrest Griffin) contributed to the coining of the term ‘The Pride Curse’, which referred to the phenomenon of fighters who were successful in Japan floundering in the Octagon (such as Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva and ‘Cro Cop’). 

Since the loss to Griffin, Rua has risen to the very top of the 205lb division by beating the rugged Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell and former champ Machida. He is expected to make his first title defence against Rashad Evans, but is currently recovering from knee surgery.  

Aggression 

A product of the famous Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil, Shogun was trained from the outset in the gym’s hyper-aggressive style, a hybrid that combines attacks from Muay Thai and Brazilian vale tudo (no holds barred) fighting. A fearsome finisher, Shogun has only seen the judges’ scorecards three times in his career 

Knees 

A master of Muay Thai, Shogun is known for his high-impact knee strikes. Unrelated to this he’s undergone extensive surgery on both knees. His shoddy showing against Forrest Griffin was blamed on a serious pre-fight knee injury that hampered his preparations, and he underwent knee surgery on the other leg following his win over Lyoto Machida

Feet

Eight of his 16 (T)KO wins have come via soccer kicks or stomps to the head of a downed opponent, techniques that were permissible under vale tudo and Pride FC rules. Shogun isn’t just adept at dancing the fandango on his opponents’ heads – his nimble feet means he’s particularly agile in the cage and it’s his impressive lateral footwork that provides much of his punching power

CAREER SNAPSHOT

2002

Makes MMA debut on Meca World Vale Tudo in Brazil, wins by head kick KO  

2003

Enters the IFC 205lb tournament, submitted by Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral in semi-finals. Makes Pride debut, wins by TKO  

2005

His breakout year; beats Rampage Jackson, ‘Minotoro’, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona, winning the Pride 2005 middleweight GP 

2007

Signs with the UFC, suffers shock loss to the underdog Forrest Griffin  

2009

Returns after a 16-month layoff, beats Coleman and Liddell by TKO, drops questionable decision to Machida in title challenge  

2010

Avenges his loss to Machida with a first-round TKO and is crowned UFC 205lb champion