Rua brings a 12-1 record into this fight and makes his ninth appearance (8-0) in the PFC.
The young Brazilian started fighting in the Rudimar Fedrigo-promoted Meca Vale Tudo events where he went 3-0, including a referee stoppage over current Chute Boxe fighter Evangelista Santos (Pictures). He also competed in the IFC: Global Domination tournament held in 2003.
Rua defeated Eric Wanderlei by TKO in the quarterfinal round and lost to Renato Sobral (Pictures) by submission in the semifinals. In October of 2003, Rua made his PRIDE Bushido debut and knocked out “Mr. PRIDE” Akira Shoji (Pictures) early in the first round.
At PRIDE Bushido 2 Rua continued to impress, knocking out Pancrase star Akihiro Gono (Pictures). RINGS veterans Yasuhito Namekawa (Pictures) was dropped with strikes at PRIDE Bushido 5 and “Shogun” continued his “KO Japan Tour” by knocking out Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures) in less than two minutes.
Mauricio’s most impressive knockout (in terms of impact) was over Quinton Jackson (Pictures). “Rampage” was dominated and midway through round one he was dropped in dramatic fashion allowing “Shogun” to advance to the quarterfinals of the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix.
Then in what was Sherdog.com 2005 Fight of the Year, Rua took on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures) for a spot in the quarterfinals. “Shogun” won a decision victory in a hard-fought battle that gave him the opportunity to face Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem (Pictures) in the semifinal bout at PRIDE: Final Conflict.
Overeem had a size advantage and scored an early takedown but Rua was able maintain his composure and come back to knockout Alistair like he had so many before him. The eagerly anticipated final bout for the tournament was set between Rua and Brazilian Top Team fighter Ricardo Arona (Pictures). What was predicted to be a war eventually played out in a quick skirmish, as “Shogun” knocked out Arona with strikes in less than three minutes.
COLEMAN: American Mark Coleman (Pictures) is a two-time UFC tournament champion, a former UFC heavyweight champion and the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix tournament champion.
He trains with Kevin Randleman (Pictures), Brandon Lee Hinkle and Wes Sims (Pictures) and other members of the Hammer House in Ohio. “The Hammer” is 14-7 in MMA and is making his 12th appearance (7-4) in the PFC.
Coleman grew up in Fremont, Ohio near Columbus, home to Ohio State University. He played baseball, football and of course wrestled all through high school. He wanted to play football in college after making all-state at middle linebacker for St. Joseph High School but he was not recruited by a Division-I school.
Coleman took a baseball scholarship at Miami of Ohio but quickly focused on wrestling and excelled there becoming a two-time Mid-American Conference wrestling champion. He placed fourth in the D-I Final as a junior. As a senior Coleman transferred to Ohio State and graduated with a degree in education. From there he set his sights on becoming an Olympic champion.
He continued to accumulate wins and made the Olympic team in 1992, placing a disappointing seventh. A discouraged Coleman continued to compete and even beat Kurt Angle at the 1995 Sunkist Open. In his ’96 Olympic run, he made it to the semifinals but fell short and his MMA fighting career began shortly thereafter. Coleman won the UFC 10 eight-man tournament by defeating Gary Goodridge (Pictures) and Don Frye (Pictures). At UFC 11 Coleman repeated, beating Brian Johnston (Pictures). Coleman then captured the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 12 submitting Dan Severn (Pictures).
Unfortunately his luck went south from there, as he would lose four fights in a row. These included the legendary bout with kickboxer Maurice Smith, a knockout to Lion’s Den fighter Pete Williams and a disappointment against Pedro Rizzo (Pictures).
Then, finding himself in a spot he’d never been in his MMA career, Coleman took a dubious match with Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) at PRIDE 5, tapping to a heelhook. He returned to his winning ways at PRIDE 8 beating Brazilian giant Ricardo Morais (Pictures). The win earned Coleman an invitation to the first PRIDE Grand Prix in 2000.
A combination of skill and a soft bracket (a clueless Masaki Satake, an undersized Akira Shoji (Pictures) and an injured Kazuyuki Fujita (Pictures)) allowed Coleman to run the table and advance to the final to face Ukrainian nightmare Igor Vovchanchyn (Pictures). Coleman defeated the super striker with knees to the head and captured the title.
“The Hammer” knocked out Allan Goes at PRIDE 13 with knees to the head and then met former “Minotauro” Nogueira at PRIDE 16. Nogueira was big, fast and knew Coleman’s weakness: the submission game. Six minutes into the bout, Coleman tapped to armbar.
He took a decision victory over old nemesis Don Frye (Pictures) at PRIDE 26, some seven years after their initial meeting. Then Coleman fought two of the division’s best in back-to-back bouts. He met reigning PFC heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) at the ’04 Total Elimination show and was armbarred in just over two minutes. Nearly a year later he faced Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) at PRIDE 29 and was knocked out by “Cro Cop” in less than four minutes. Last October “The Hammer” fought on the Bushido Europe: Rotterdam Rumble card in Holland and choked out Milco Voom in less than a minute.
MY PICK: Rua. These two are going in opposite directions. Coleman is riding off into the sunset and Rua cannot be stopped. Mark has a shot — literally — of scoring a takedown from the bell and pounding the snot out of the young buck ala Randleman-Filipovic I. However that is where reality sets in. If that doesn’t happen, Coleman purchased a one-way ticket to a world of pain. Visions of fighting both Mo Smith and Williams will be going through his head, but fighting “Shogun” could be like meeting both of them in the same night. This could get real ugly, real fast. Mark is a warrior and I know he’ll go out like a warrior. Rua by KO in the first round.