Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is heading to the UFC Hall of Fame. One of the most exciting fighters in MMA history, Rua was announced as the most recent inductee into the Hall of Fame during Saturday’s UFC 301.
Rua burst onto the scene at the first Pride Bushido event, stopping Akira Shoji at Pride Bushido 1. After winning two more fights, Rua made the biggest impact in the early stages of his career by winning the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, defeating Quinton Jackson, Antônio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona to win the tournament.
“Shogun Rua is one of the greatest Brazilian athletes in combat sports history,” UFC president and CEO Dana White said in a press release. “Shogun had an incredible run in PRIDE and UFC, and he was fearless inside the Octagon. His fights against Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, and Dan Henderson represent some of the most memorable moments in UFC history and helped put Brazilian MMA on the map. It will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer during International Fight Week.”
While Rua lost to Mark Coleman after suffering a broken arm in 2006, he closed out his Pride career by winning four more fights before Zuffa purchased Pride, leading Rua to join the UFC as the promotion’s parent company acquired Pride.
Despite losing a UFC 76 fight to Forrest Griffin, Rua would go on to lose a controversial fight with Lyoto Machida before winning the rematch at UFC 113 to win the UFC light heavyweight championship.
After losing a championship fight with Jon Jones at UFC 128. Rua would continue to compete at a high level for many years, battling many of the UFC’s top names while continuing to hold himself as one of the top fighters in the 205-pound division.
Rua’s most recent fight came in January 2023 when he suffered a TKO loss to Ihor Potieria, his third consecutive defeat. Despite the failures in his final trips to the cage, Rua had already established himself as one of the most dangerous — and accomplished — fighters in the history of the light heavyweight division.
