Maurício Milani Rua (Portuguese pronunciation: [mawˈɾisiu ˈʁuɐ]; born 25 November 1981), also known as Shogun, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist.
[6] Both are mixed martial artists training at Universidade da luta, though Marcos does not compete at a professional level.
[7] 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.
[8][9] 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 his three Bushido appearances, Rua defeated Akira Shoji, Akihiro Gono, and Yasuhito Namekawa, all by strikes in the first round.
[10] In the second round at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005, Rua faced Antônio Rogério Nogueira, a member of Chute Boxe's rival academy Brazilian Top Team.
On 28 August 2005, Rua participated in PRIDE Final Conflict 2005, in which the last two bouts of the tournament were held on the same night.
At 2:54 in the first round, Rua knocked Arona out with punches to win the bout and become the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion.
As Coleman executed a takedown, Rua landed awkwardly and dislocated his elbow, forcing a stoppage due to injury.
At PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute he defeated French kickboxer Cyrille Diabate by tapout due to stomps.
At Pride 32 he submitted former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman with a kneebar at 2:35 of the first round, the only submission victory of his career.
By the end of his run at PRIDE, Rua was ranked as the top Light heavyweight in the world by Nokaut,[11] Sherdog,[12] and MMAWeekly.com.
[15][16] Rua left Chute Boxe in January 2008 and opened his own camp, Universidade da luta, with his brother Murilo in Curitiba.
With this victory, Rua returned to the top-ten rankings for the Light heavyweight division, and the UFC decided to put him next in line for a title shot.
Following the victory, Rua underwent surgery in June to repair a knee injured during the bout against Machida.
Rua's first title defense was scheduled on 19 March 2011 against Rashad Evans, who had won by unanimous decision over Quinton Jackson at UFC 114 on 29 May 2010.
However, following Jon Jones's victory over Ryan Bader at UFC 126, it was announced that Evans had blown his knee out in training and would not be able to face Rua.
[20] Quinton Jackson was also offered the title fight but declined, as six weeks' notice did not provide enough time to make weight.
[28] In a back-and-forth affair, Shogun managed to drop Vera several times and won by TKO due to punches in the fourth round.
Perennial multi-divisional contender Chael Sonnen was briefly linked as a replacement for Nogueira[32] but eventually Rua was pulled from the event altogether.
[41] 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.
[46] Ten years after their first bout, Rua had a rematch against former opponent Antônio Rogério Nogueira on 1 August 2015 at UFC 190.
[48][49] A long discussed bout against Rashad Evans was rescheduled and was expected to take place on 16 April 2016 at UFC on Fox 19.
[50] 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.
[56] However, Rua pulled out of the fight as the event was approaching on 16 September and was replaced by returning veteran Yushin Okami.
[58] 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.
[79] He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round and Rua announced his retirement during the post-fight interview.
[83] Before becoming a fighter, Rua worked as a model in Brazil, doing books, pictures, and even fashion shows for brands.