Mauricio Rua competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,039 |
48 Facts About Mauricio Rua
3.
Mauricio Rua's father is a businessman and his mother is a former track athlete and now marathon runner.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,041 |
4.
Mauricio Rua has an older brother, Murilo, and a younger brother, Marcos.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,042 |
5.
Mauricio Rua began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of six and Muay Thai at the age of seven.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,043 |
6.
Mauricio Rua followed his older brother in training at the Chute Boxe Academy, and was successful in BJJ championships at the blue and purple belt levels.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,044 |
7.
Mauricio 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,045 |
8.
Mauricio 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,046 |
9.
Mauricio Rua made his PRIDE debut at the inaugural PRIDE Bushido 1, a side promotion for lighter fighters.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,047 |
10.
Mauricio 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,048 |
11.
Mauricio Rua defeated Kanehara by stomps early in the first round.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,049 |
12.
Mauricio Rua entered the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament as an underdog.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,050 |
13.
Mauricio 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,051 |
14.
On 28 August 2005, Mauricio Rua participated in PRIDE Final Conflict 2005, in which the last two bouts of the tournament were held on the same night.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,052 |
15.
Mauricio Rua defeated Alistair Overeem by TKO in the first round, while Ricardo Arona defeated Mauricio Rua's teammate Wanderlei Silva by decision.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,053 |
16.
At 2:54 in the first round, Mauricio Rua knocked Arona out with punches to win the bout and become the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,054 |
17.
Mauricio Rua received a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Nino Schembri afterwards, a process that only took him four years from when he got his purple belt.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,055 |
18.
However, Mauricio Rua had difficulty with Griffin and became exhausted early on and was dominated for the remainder of the fight.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,056 |
19.
Mauricio Rua succumbed to a rear-naked choke in the final seconds of the third round.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,057 |
20.
Mauricio Rua left Chute Boxe in January 2008 and opened his own camp, Universidade da luta, with his brother Murilo in Curitiba.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,058 |
21.
Mauricio Rua was granted a rematch with Mark Coleman at UFC 93 in Dublin.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,059 |
22.
In spite of the award, Mauricio 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,060 |
23.
Mauricio Rua's next fight took place at UFC 97 in Montreal against former longtime UFC Light heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,061 |
24.
Mauricio Rua won via knockout at 3:35 of round 1, after dropping Machida with a right and following up with punches on the ground.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,062 |
26.
Mauricio Rua later said the blow greatly affected his performance for the rest of the bout.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,064 |
27.
Mauricio Rua faced Dan Henderson on 19 November 2011 at UFC 139, losing via unanimous decision.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,065 |
28.
Mauricio Rua was expected to face Thiago Silva on 21 July 2012, at UFC 149.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,066 |
29.
Mauricio Rua faced Brandon Vera on 4 August 2012, at UFC on Fox: Shogun vs Vera.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,067 |
30.
Mauricio Rua faced Alexander Gustafsson on 8 December 2012, at UFC on Fox 5.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,068 |
31.
Mauricio Rua was expected to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a rematch at UFC 161.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,069 |
32.
Mauricio Rua lost the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the first round.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,070 |
33.
Mauricio Rua next faced James Te Huna on 7 December 2013, at UFC Fight Night 33.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,071 |
34.
Mauricio Rua sustained a broken nose in his fight with Henderson that required surgery.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,072 |
35.
In September 2014, Mauricio Rua revealed that he had signed a new, eight-fight contract with the UFC.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,073 |
36.
Mauricio Rua was expected to face Jimi Manuwa on 8 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 56.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,074 |
37.
Mauricio Rua lost the fight via knockout at just 34 seconds into the first round, the fastest knockout loss of his career.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,075 |
38.
Ten years after their first bout, Mauricio Rua had a rematch against former opponent Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on 1 August 2015 at UFC 190.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,076 |
39.
Mauricio Rua won the fight by unanimous decision and both participants were awarded Fight of the Night honors.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,077 |
40.
Mauricio Rua next faced Gian Villante on 11 March 2017 at UFC Fight Night 106.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,078 |
41.
Mauricio Rua won the fight via technical knock-out in the third round.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,079 |
42.
Mauricio Rua was expected to face Volkan Oezdemir on 12 May 2018 at UFC Fight Night 129.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,080 |
43.
Mauricio Rua faced Tyson Pedro on 2 December 2018 at UFC Fight Night 142.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,081 |
44.
Mauricio Rua 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,082 |
45.
Mauricio Rua was expected to face Sam Alvey on 16 November 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 22.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,083 |
46.
Mauricio Rua lost the fight via technical knockout in round two.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,084 |
47.
Mauricio Rua had a rematch against Ovince Saint Preux on 7 May 2022 at UFC 274.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,085 |
48.
Mauricio Rua was scheduled to face Ihor Potieria on January 21,2023, at UFC 283.
| FactSnippet No. 1,824,086 |