Mauricio Rua

Mauricio Rua, nicknamed Shogun was born on November 25, 1981 in Curitiba, Brazil.  He weighs 205 lbs and stands 6' 1" tall. He masters in the Vale Tudo style of fighting that has allowed him to defeat many opponents in the ring.  Physically, Mauricio is conservatively built that allows him to produce flying kicks like a martial art purist.

He won the PRIDE Middleweight Championship in 2005 defeating Ricardo Arona with his amazing striking ability.  He is also trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai style of fighting and currently fights out of Chute Box Academy in his hometown.

Mauricio is always known for his quick reflexes to which his opponents have not found any answer till now.  Currently, Mauricio is ranked as the number one heavyweight in the world by a popular Martial Arts magazine.  Mauricio started the Jiu Jitsu training from a very young age.  

His first successes in the domain of Martial arts came by defeating recognized opponents like Rafael Capoeira and Evangelista Studos in the World Vale Tudo competitions.  In the World Vale tudo event, Evangelista gave Mauricio a tough time by countering his aerial game with a good ground tackling strategy that forced Mauricio to switch gears to the ground.  Mauricio, who was equally good with ground game as well produced a series of winners that left Studos absolutely spell bound.

He started his PRIDE Career in 2003 when he defeated Akira Shoji in PRIDE Bushido 1.  By handling defeats to Akihiro Gono, Yasuhito Namekawa, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Quinton Jackson in PRIDE Bushido 1, PRIDE Bushido 5, PRIDE 29 and PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 took him face to face with Antonio Rogerio.

The battle with Antonio Rogerio in PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005 was one of the best ones that Mauricio has been in.  Pitted against an opponent who matched him in all the departments, Mauricio came out all guns blazing against Antonio to floor him through a unanimous decision. 

One of the unfortunate losses for Mauricio came in PRIDE 31 when he had to withdraw against Mark Coleman due to a elbow dislocation.  Mauricio Rua has an unchallenged win loss record 12 wins and 2 losses in PRIDE.  He has a win loss record of 4-1 in other forms of professional fighting.  Analysts attribute this to Mauricio's excellent aerial skills when fighting.  Mauricio coupled this effectively with his ability to fight on the ground that allowed him to floor many opponents like Alistair Overeem, Quinton Jackson and more.

Mauricio's favorite winning technique is the submission.  He uses a conventional form of knee submission and the triangle choke to floor his opponents.  He has been susceptible against the rear naked and the guillotine chokes.

His last battle against Forrest Griffin in UFC 76: Knockout terminated in a loss against Griffin.  Griffin used the rear naked choke submission method to defeat Mauricio.

His most recent defeat not withstanding, analysts say that Mauricio is the hot favorite to be recrowned as the Heavyweight Champion.  They believe Mauricio has added variety to his ground play with his powerful aerial skills.