The 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix winner and former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder has pieced together a remarkable career that saw him reach the pinnacle of the sport before injuries and attrition took their toll. Rua rattled off 20 wins across his first 25 professional appearances, all while testing himself against his most accomplished contemporaries. “Shogun” has delivered 21 of his 27 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission, 17 of them inside one round. At his breathtaking peak, he was a toxic blend of violence, technique and competitive drive.
As “Shogun” nears his 40th birthday and awaits his next move, a look at some of the rivalries that helped make him a historic figure in MMA:
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
An in-his-prime Rua waged a remarkable three-round war with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the quarterfinals of the star-studded 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix. “Shogun” forced Nogueira to exchange on the feet throughout their unforgettable encounter at Pride Critical Countdown on June 26, 2005 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and whenever the action spilled onto the mat, the two combatants showed off the depths of their skill through slick submission attempts and brutal ground-and-pound. Both men were credited with takedowns—Nogueira in the first round, Rua in the third—but by the time their 20-minute battle was complete, “Shogun” had executed seven takedowns, dodged an attempted kimura, outlanded his countryman by a single strike, 107-106, and earned a unanimous decision. Rua and Nogueira met on two other occasions later in their distinguished careers. “Shogun” took a unanimous verdict in their UFC 190 rematch on Aug. 1, 2015 and eked out a split decision in their UFC on ESPN 14 trilogy bout on July 25, 2020.
Alistair Overeem
Rua’s crowning achievement—winning the 2005 Pride middleweight grand prix—could not have unfolded without him outdueling “The Demolition Man” in the tournament semifinals. “Shogun” put away Overeem with punches 6:42 into the first round of their Pride Final Conflict confrontation on Aug. 28, 2005 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The Dutchman was successful in spurts, as he took down Rua on multiple occasions, cracked him with knees from the north-south position and threatened with one of his patented guillotine chokes. Those considerable efforts were not enough to dissuade “Shogun.” Rua denied an attempted takedown from the fading Golden Glory export midway through the first period, powered into top position and eventually achieved full mount before dropping an answered barrage of punches and hammerfists to prompt the stoppage. The Chute Boxe standout went on to defeat Ricardo Arona in the grand prix final a few hours later, his rise to global superstardom complete. When Rua faced Overeem a second time at Pride 33 in 2007, he needed a little less than four minutes to finish the job and take a 2-0 advantage in their head-to-head series.
Forrest Griffin
“Shogun” made his long-awaited Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in the UFC 76 co-main event on Sept. 22, 2007 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. It did not go according to plan. Rua entered the cage as a substantial -345 favorite against Forrest Griffin, only to fall prey to a third-round submission from “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner. Griffin absorbed his share of damage across two-plus rounds—an elbow strike from the Brazilian opened a jagged Harry Potter scar on his forehead—but managed to withstand Rua’s efforts. “Shogun” tired noticeably down the stretch, leaving him more and more vulnerable to a man who wielded cardio as one of his primary weapons. Griffin scrambled into top position late in the match, advanced to the back and cinched a rear-naked choke for the tapout 4:45 into Round 3. Rua gained a measure of revenge in their rematch some four years later, as he knocked out Griffin less than two minutes into their UFC 134 pairing.
Lyoto Machida
Rua knocked out the previously unbeaten Machida 3:35 into the first round of their rematch to capture the light heavyweight championship in the UFC 113 headliner on May 8, 2010 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. At 28, Rua once again sat atop the 205-pound heap. For many, it will be remembered as a night when justice was served. Machida took a controversial unanimous decision from Rua at UFC 104 the previous October. “Shogun,” who battered the Shotokan karate savant with kicks to the leg and body the first time the two met, waited seven months for his shot at redemption, and he made the most of it. Rua ate some knees to the body and conceded a pair of takedowns early in Round 1. However, the 2005 Pride middleweight grand prix winner dropped Machida with a right hand to the side of the head in a close-quarters stand-up exchange, followed him to the ground and moved immediately to mount on the dazed defending champion. A series of unanswered punches from the top left Machida limp, as Rua rose victoriously from his fallen rival, his arms raised skyward in triumph.
Dan Henderson
Pulses pounded. Hairs stood on end. Chills tickled the spine. In a gripping showdown that remains one of the best fights in mixed martial arts history, the former two-division Pride titleholder outlasted Rua to claim a unanimous decision in an unforgettable UFC 139 main event on Nov. 19, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. Scores were 48-47 across the board. Henderson fired his nuclear right hand into “Shogun” countless times and appeared to have the Brazilian teetering on the brink of defeat more than once. He controlled the first, second and third rounds with his hellacious punching power but ran into difficulty in the fourth. There, he found himself winded and wobbled, nearly undone by a Rua uppercut. In Round 5, “Shogun” took down Henderson and kept him there, transitioning to full mount on five different occasions and dropping punches as he went. By the time it was done, Rua had outlanded Henderson by a 191-113 margin in total strikes and held a 96-77 advantage in significant strikes. However, the cageside judges rewarded Henderson for his work in the pre-championship rounds, giving the two-time Olympian another signature victory. Rua’s shot at redemption unraveled in their 2014 rematch, as he succumbed to third-round punches from the Team Quest founder in the UFC Fight Night 38 headliner.