Background check: Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua

Muricio Milani Rua was born November 25th 1981 in Curitiba Brazil. He is 6ft 1in tall and weighs in at 205lbs with a 76 inch reach. He has a black belt in BJJ and is well trained in Muay Thai. Rua’s record stands at 18-4(15ko,1sub). His MMA debut was a KO victory over Rafael Capoeira at Vale tudo in 2002. Rua has also won the BJJ south-American championship and the STORM Muay Thai championship in 2003.

Since Rua’s debut in 2002 he has gone on to beat many fighters in a very exciting career. During his time in Pride Rua scored knockout victories over such fighters as Akihiro Gono, Quinton Jackson, Alistair Overeem twice and Ricardo Arona. In a fight with Cyril Diabate, Rua scored a knockout by head stomps. Rua’s UFC debut was in 2007 where he faced off against Forrest Griffin at UFC 76. Griffin scored a submission victory over Rua in the upset of the year. Rua’s next bout was against Mark Coleman, and he was out for revenge. Coleman was dominated through the first two rounds and in the third Rua scored a TKO victory. After knocking out Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 Rua was granted a shot at the title. He faced Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 and lost a close decision after an action packed fight. Rua feels, as do many fans, that he won the fight and at UFC 113 he will get the chance again, as he fights Lyoto again in a much awaited match up. Rua is currently ranked as the number 2 LHW fighter on the planet. 

Rua has proven a deadly striker and exciting fighter over the years. From Vale tudo, to Pride and to the UFC Rua has fought and beat many of the best. Machida vs Shogun 2 couldn’t come quick enough for me.

Info source:Wikipedia.org