32 Facts About Marco Ruas

1.

Marco Antonio de Lima Ruas is a Brazilian former mixed martial arts fighter, submission wrestler, kickboxer and instructor.

2.

Marco Ruas is a pioneer of Mixed martial arts, having fought in a high-profile Vale Tudo bout in 1984, and later winning the UFC 7 tournament in 1995, begin the second Brazilian UFC champion and fourth overall of the organization.

3.

Marco Ruas was able to synthesize both grappling and striking into one style, known for begin one of the first proponents of cross-training to compete in mixed martial arts events, and is considered one of the very first well-rounded fighters and true "mixed martial artist".

4.

Marco Ruas transformed his style in his own hybrid martial art which he called "Marco Ruas Vale Tudo".

5.

Marco Ruas started his career training Boxing, Taekwondo, Judo, and Capoeira, the latter with renowned Mestre Camisa in Rio de Janeiro at the Santa Luzia club, downtown Rio.

6.

Marco Ruas represented muay Thai fighting a match against BJJ representative Fernando Pinduka, he used his Luta Livre skills to counter Pinduka's grappling and the match went to draw.

7.

Marco Ruas debuted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the UFC 7 event in 1995.

8.

Marco Ruas firstly faced Larry Cureton, who outweighed him by 40 lbs, but Ruas submitted him with a heel hook after a methodical grapple.

9.

Marco Ruas used again his characteristic foot stomps when Paul clinched him against the cage.

10.

Thanks to his victory in UFC 7, Marco Ruas was invited to the Ultimate Ultimate event.

11.

Marco Ruas defeated Keith Hackney by choke with ease, but his next opponente, Oleg Taktarov, made a tougher contest.

12.

However, the judges gave the decision win to Taktarov, and Marco Ruas was eliminated from the tournament.

13.

Marco Ruas won easily with a submission to punches and won the WVC Superfight belt.

14.

The rematch ended in a draw, but Marco Ruas was clearly the most dominating fighter, and he shook hands with Oleg after the fight.

15.

Marco Ruas kept the WVC Superfight belt in the process.

16.

Marco Ruas finished his run in the organization with his last superfight against UFC 2 finalist Patrick Smith in the WVC 4 event, easily winning with a heel hook.

17.

Marco Ruas parted ways with Lacerda when he began to question the effectiveness of Lacerda's techniques and practices, but Carvalho continued participating in Lacerda's challenge, constantly attacking not only jiu-jitsu but all fighting styles.

18.

Marco Ruas was then invited to PRIDE Fighting Championships in 1998, he first had a match against UFC veteran Gary Goodridge at PRIDE 2, winning with a heel hook after a 9-minute bout.

19.

Marco Ruas returned briefly to UFC to fight former heavyweight champion Maurice Smith in UFC 21, but lost by TKO.

20.

Marco Ruas suffered an injury in the first round and could not continue.

21.

Around that time, Marco Ruas started to transition from a fighter into a full-time coach, teaching his own "Marco Ruas Vale Tudo" style for a new generation of fighters.

22.

Marco Ruas coached UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo in Luta Livre, awarding him a black belt in the art, and Aldo was coached striking and leg kicks by Pedro Rizzo, some of Ruas' own fighting style can be seen in Aldo's.

23.

At this point semi-retired, in 2001 Marco Ruas defeated Jason Lambert at Ultimate Pankration in California in less than 1 minute with a heel hook.

24.

Marco Ruas was invited to participate in the newly formed MMA promotion International Fight League.

25.

Marco Ruas coached the "Southern California Condors" team, later simply known as "Marco Ruas Vale Tudo".

26.

Marco Ruas came out from retirement and had one rematch against Maurice Smith as the superfight for the IFL: Chigaco event in 2007, which he lost by TKO with a stoppage by his corner.

27.

Marco Ruas developed a feud with Rickson Gracie, both were one of the most skilled and high-profile grapplers of their time, and represent two rival styles that were feuding at the time: Luta Livre and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

28.

Marco Ruas accepted it but requested four months to train instead of fighting right away in the gym, Gracie denied it since he would leave Brazil to the United States before that.

29.

Marco Ruas however, denies this version, saying that he was ready for a fight, but actually Gracie wanted to fight "Luta Livre guys" and Helio Gracie who was accompanying Rickson said Marco Ruas wasn't a "real Luta Livre fighter" due his open advocacy of cross-training.

30.

Marco Ruas became controversial for criticizing other top fighters and said in interviews that Marco Ruas as "nothing special" and "basic".

31.

Marco Ruas has to step up in the ring and prove what he says.

32.

Marco Ruas made a cameo appearance as a jealous husband in Kickboxer 3, in which his character fought and lost to Sasha Mitchell's David Sloane at a party.