Early career Rua started his professional career at
vale tudo events in Brazil, achieving three stoppages due to strikes, including a win over future
Chute Boxe Academy teammate
Evangelista Santos. In a fast-paced bout, Santos matched Rua on the feet until Rua took Santos to the ground and forced a stoppage due to strikes from mount. Shogun then entered the International Fighting Championships's (IFC) Global Domination Tournament. Rua won his first bout against Erik Wanderlei due to punches, and in the second bout got the first submission loss of his career against
Renato Sobral with a guillotine in the third round.
PRIDE Fighting Championship PRIDE Debut, Bushido and PRIDE 29 Following his victory in the IFC tournament, Shogun made his way to Japan to enter the
PRIDE organization. He made his PRIDE debut at the inaugural
PRIDE Bushido 1, a side promotion for lighter fighters. In his three Bushido appearances, Rua defeated
Akira Shoji,
Akihiro Gono, and
Yasuhito Namekawa, all by strikes in the first round. Rua graduated to his debut in a main PRIDE event at
PRIDE 29, where he faced former professional wrestler
Hiromitsu Kanehara, a Japanese fighter known for his toughness. Rua defeated Kanehara by stomps early in the first round.
PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix He entered the
PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament as an underdog. For the first round of the tournament at
PRIDE Total Elimination 2005, he faced
Quinton Jackson, whom he had challenged after Jackson won a controversial split decision over
Murilo Rua at
PRIDE 29. Rua dominated the favored fighter from beginning to end, breaking Jackson's ribs with knee strikes and ending the fight in dramatic fashion with soccer kicks to the face in the first round. Jackson later said that Shogun was the best fighter he had ever fought.
Sherdog, and MMAWeekly.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship After the UFC bought out PRIDE, Shogun signed on with the UFC and made his debut in the organization at
UFC 76. Facing
The Ultimate Fighter 1 Winner Forrest Griffin, Rua was favoured to win. However, Rua had difficulty with Griffin and became exhausted early on and was dominated for the remainder of the fight. He succumbed to a
rear-naked choke in the final seconds of the third round. He then had surgery for a pre-existing knee injury. In the months following his surgery Rua completely reruptured damaged ligaments during training and was forced to undergo a second knee surgery. This forced him to drop out of
UFC 85. He was granted a rematch with
Mark Coleman at
UFC 93 in
Dublin. Shogun defeated Coleman by TKO with 24 seconds left in the third round. The fight earned co-Fight of the Night honors and a $40,000 bonus. In spite of the award, Rua drew criticism from fans for his lackluster performance against Coleman, who was 44 years old at the time and had not competed in over two years.
Quinton Jackson was also offered the title fight but declined, as six weeks' notice did not provide enough time to make weight. In the title fight, Jones began the fight with a
flying knee to the head. Rua later said the blow greatly affected his performance for the rest of the bout. Jones kept the pressure on Rua throughout the rest of the fight, utilizing unorthodox striking and
ground and pound and winning the fight via TKO in Round 3.
Post title fights After the loss to Jones, Rua's rematch with
Forrest Griffin took place on 27 August 2011 at
UFC 134. In a match that looked like the complete opposite of their original bout, Shogun demonstrated good head movement and footwork, as well as good accuracy and striking power, to win the bout via KO early in the first round. Rua had now avenged three of his six losses. Rua faced
Dan Henderson on 19 November 2011 at
UFC 139, losing via unanimous decision. Henderson was in control for most of the first three rounds, dropping Rua in the third. In the fourth round, the momentum started to shift towards Rua, who was able to mount Henderson. Despite the decision loss, Rua was awarded a
Fight of the Night bonus award. This fight is widely viewed as the "Fight of the Year" for 2011. This fight was also inducted into the 2018
UFC Hall of Fame. Rua was expected to face
Thiago Silva on 21 July 2012, at
UFC 149. However, Silva was forced out of the bout with an injury. Rua faced
Brandon Vera on 4 August 2012, at
UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera. In a back-and-forth affair, Shogun managed to drop Vera several times and won by TKO due to punches in the fourth round. Rua faced
Alexander Gustafsson on 8 December 2012, at
UFC on Fox 5. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Rua was expected to face
Antônio Rogério Nogueira in a rematch at
UFC 161. However, Nogueira pulled out of the bout in the days leading up to the event citing a back injury. Perennial multi-divisional contender
Chael Sonnen was briefly linked as a replacement for Nogueira but eventually Rua was pulled from the event altogether. On 17 August 2013, at
UFC Fight Night 26, Rua faced
Chael Sonnen in the main event. He lost the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the first round. Rua next faced
James Te Huna on 7 December 2013, at
UFC Fight Night 33. He won the fight via first round knockout. The win also earned Rua his third
Knockout of the Night bonus award. A rematch with
Dan Henderson took place on 23 March 2014 at
UFC Fight Night 38. After winning the first two rounds and scoring a knockdown in each, he was defeated via strikes in the third round. Despite the TKO loss, Rua was given his third
Fight of the Night bonus award, his second for a bout against Henderson. Rua sustained a broken nose in his fight with Henderson that required surgery. On 29 October 2014, it was announced that Rua would coach opposite
Anderson Silva for
The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4, which began filming in early 2015. Despite being coaches on the show, the two fighters will not face each other at the end of the season. In September 2014, Rua revealed that he had signed a new, eight-fight contract with the UFC. Rua was expected to face
Jimi Manuwa on 8 November 2014 at
UFC Fight Night 56. However, on 29 October, it was revealed that Manuwa was injured and was replaced by
Ovince St. Preux. Rua lost the fight via knockout at just 34 seconds into the first round, the fastest knockout loss of his career. Ten years after their first bout, Rua had a rematch against former opponent
Antônio Rogério Nogueira on 1 August 2015 at
UFC 190. He won the fight by unanimous decision and both participants were awarded
Fight of the Night honors. A long discussed bout against
Rashad Evans was rescheduled and was expected to take place on 16 April 2016 at
UFC on Fox 19. However, Rua was pulled from the fight on 9 March in favor of a matchup with
Corey Anderson a couple of weeks later at
UFC 198. Rua was awarded a split decision victory. Rua next faced
Gian Villante on 11 March 2017 at
UFC Fight Night 106. He won the fight via technical knock-out in the third round. A rematch with
Ovince Saint Preux was expected to take place on 22 September 2017 at
UFC Fight Night 117. However it was reported on 13 April 2018 that Oezdemir was pulled from the event due to alleged
visa issues restricting his travel to
Chile. The pairing was left intact and rescheduled for 22 July 2018 at
UFC Fight Night 134, However the bout was cancelled once again after promotion officials elected to pull Oezdemir from that fight in favor of a matchup against
Alexander Gustafsson the following month at
UFC 227. He was replaced by
Anthony Smith. Rua lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Rua faced
Tyson Pedro on 2 December 2018 at
UFC Fight Night 142. He won the fight via technical knockout in round three, finishing Pedro with a flurry of strikes after Pedro suffered a leg injury and was unable to defend himself. This win earned him the
Performance of the Night award. Rua was expected to face
Sam Alvey on 16 November 2019 at
UFC on ESPN+ 22. However, Alvey was removed from the fight on 25 October due to a broken hand and was replaced by
Paul Craig. After three rounds, the back-and-forth fight was declared a split draw. A third bout with
Antônio Rogério Nogueira was scheduled to take place on 9 May 2020 at
UFC 250. However, the bout was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The bout eventually took place on 26 July 2020 at
UFC on ESPN 14. He won the fight via split decision. A rematch with
Paul Craig took place on 21 November 2020 at
UFC 255. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round two when he tapped to strikes for the second time in his career. Rua had a rematch against
Ovince Saint Preux on 7 May 2022 at
UFC 274. He lost the fight via split decision. Rua faced Ihor Potieria on January 21, 2023, at
UFC 283. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round and Rua announced his retirement during the post-fight interview.
Hall of Fame At
UFC 301 on May 4, 2024, it was announced that Rua would be inducted into the 2024
UFC Hall of Fame under the Modern Wing. However, Rua withdrew for unknown reasons and was replaced by
Gegard Mousasi. In turn, in April 2025, it was reported that all GFL events were cancelled indefinitely. ==Personal life==