5. Mauricio Rua
Perhaps the most divisive fighter on this list, “Shogun” picked up votes as high as second and as low as ninth—I had him at No. 3. That wide disparity is easy to understand, however, from a fighter who peaked so young, then appeared to burn out before showing surprising staying power as an aging veteran. Rua, like other top Chute Boxe representatives, aged poorly, being notably past his best by his early 30s, and even before then, was prone to the occasional lapse, like his injury loss to Mark Coleman or being tapped out in his UFC debut by Forrest Griffin. However, consider Rua at his best: His performance in the 2005 Pride Fighting Championships Grand Prix was one of the most spectacular I've ever seen in the sport. Rua demolished Quinton Jackson in the opening round, won a clear decision over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the quarterfinals, flattened Alistair Overeem with punches in their semifinal, and then overwhelmed perhaps the best grappler in the sport, Ricardo Arona, in under three minutes in the final. I can't think of a harder road to a tournament win, or a more amazing series of victories. After the setback against Coleman, Rua would continue dominating in Pride, scoring a nice kneebar victory over Kevin Randleman and knocking out Overeem a second time.
Rua came into his UFC debut against Griffin, flat and overconfident—and likely under-conditioned, thanks to his ailing knees—and was submitted in the third round. That loss has aged fairly well, as Griffin would go on to become UFC light heavyweight champion, but those dismissing “Shogun” were in for a shock. After getting his revenge against Coleman and knocking out Chuck Liddell, he challenged for the UFC title against then-undefeated Lyoto Machida. Most scored it for Rua, myself included, but the decision went to Machida. Rua left no doubts in the rematch, knocking out Machida in the first round; a shocking, amazing win. After that, “Shogun” had a good but checkered career, getting revenge against Griffin with a first-round knockout, but being stopped by Jon Jones and losing one of the greatest fights ever against Dan Henderson. Rua was the best not only for the last few years of Pride, but climbed to the top of the UFC years later after being counted out, demolishing a new set of great fighters.
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