Mauricio “Shogun” Rua possesses amazing killer instinct. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
5. Mauricio Rua
Before Jon Jones took the MMA world by storm with his prodigious title-winning campaign and defenses in 2011, “Shogun” was the original youthful superstar. The Curitiba, Brazil, native and Chute Boxe product ran through the Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix in 2005 with the utmost style, finishing established light heavyweights like Quinton Jackson and Ricardo Arona with shocking ease. Multiple knee injuries seemingly damaged Rua beyond repair, but he recovered and adapted enough to knock out Lyoto Machida and capture the UFC light heavyweight title five years later to establish himself as an all-time great.
No fight better sums up Rua’s killer instinct than his second fight with Forrest Griffin. “Shogun” clipped Griffin with an overhand and then followed the stunned American backward and finished with some of the most brutal hammerfists ever witnessed. The finishing sequence in the fight with Jackson showcased the full range of Rua’s skills, beginning with a stepping knee, then a number of knees from the double-collar tie and finally a series of soccer kicks until the referee finally stepped in to save the concussed “Rampage.” Once he stung Machida and a faded but still dangerous Chuck Liddell with punches, he bombed away until they were fully out.
Despite his relatively short peak, few fighters have better earned their reputations as scary finishers than “Shogun.”
Number 4 » What clinches his place as an all-time scary finisher is his off-the-charts killer instinct. Once his opponent is hurt, he jumps on him with a profusion of vicious punches, and he does not seem to care whether they hit a legal spot or the blatantly illegal back of the head. The Brazilian’s willingness to ignore the rules in order to put down his opponent for good makes him even more terrifying than his prodigious physical gifts and slick technical skill already suggest.