Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua News

Tom Taylor - September 26, 2018

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will reportedly return to the cage at UFC Adelaide on December 2, where he’ll take on Australia’s own Tyson Pedro in a compelling light heavyweight showdown. This matchup was first reported by ESPN.

Thomas Taylor - August 11, 2018

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s July knockout loss to Anthony Smith did more than derail his impressive, three-fight winning streak. It also caused many fans to call for the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s retirement. Apparently, Shogun has heard these calls, and retirement is something he’s starting to think about himself.

Tom Taylor - July 23, 2018

On Sunday night, in the main event of UFC Hamburg, former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Shogun Rua returned to the cage opposite Anthony Smith, a fresh new light heavyweight contender who stepped in to replace Volkan Oezdemir on short notice. The stakes were high in this fight, as Shogun sought to extend his win-streak to four-straight, and very possibly earn himself a title fight against reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Unfortunately, the fight did not go as planned for the Brazilian MMA legend. Early in the first round, Smith unleashed a barrage of punches and elbows that left Shogun completely unconcious, propped upright against the cage like a broom in a closet.

Tom Taylor - July 22, 2018

The UFC Hamburg main event occurred at light heavyweight, where former champion and MMA legend Mauricio Shogun Rua looked to extend his streak to four-straight, and perhaps earn himself a light heavyweight title shot. His adversary in this high stakes challenge was fearsome contender Anthony Smith, who stepped in to replace Volkan Oezdemir on short notice. To say Anthony Smith rose to the occasion would be a mammoth understatement.

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2018

Daniel Cormier, who now owns the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles, recently stated that he’d like to squeeze in a light heavyweight title defense before he defends his heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar in the new year. Specifically, Cormier is interested in defending his light heavyweight belt against former champion and MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Shogun, of course, is scheduled for a fight with the extremely dangerous Anthony Smith this weekend, yet Cormier didn’t mention Smith’s name. Initially, Smith was pretty disappointed with the way Cormier ignored him, but now, he feels as though Cormier has added to the stakes of his fight with Shogun

Tom Taylor - July 9, 2018

Shortly after UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic to capture the UFC heavyweight belt, we learned that he’s going to fight former champion and WWE star Brock Lesnar in the very near future. Dana White confirmed this plan at the UFC 226 post-fight press conference.

Drake Riggs - July 2, 2018

Earlier today, it was announced that Volkan Oezdemir would be backing out of his UFC Hamburg headliner with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Why did he back out? To take a higher profile bout with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 227 on August 4th in Los Angeles.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2018

Originally, former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and recent UFC light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir were expected to meet in the co-main event of the UFC’s May 19 stop in Santiago, Chile. Regrettably, the legal troubles that currently surround Oezdemir prevented him from travelling to Chile in May, and the bout was removed from the card. The good news is that this compelling light heavyweight fight has now found a new home. Shogun and Oezdemir will now collide in the main event of the UFC’s June 22 return to Hamburg, Germany, not all that far from Oezdemir’s home in Switzerland.

Tom Taylor - March 18, 2018

In the co-main event of last night’s UFC London card, Polish light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz avenged a 2015 decision loss to Jimi Manuwa, capturing a unanimous decision win over his British rival in the card’s Fight of of the Night. Although the UFC has yet to update its official rankings, this win is likely to propel Blachowicz to the uppermost reaches of the light heavyweight top-15. While Blachowicz suggested post-fight that he would happily give Manuwa a tie-breaking rematch, he later added that he’s also interested in a showdown with PRIDE legend and former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Tom Taylor - September 18, 2017

Over the weekend, we learned that former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was out of his planned UFC Fight Night 117 scrap with Ovince St. Preux. Surprisingly, he’ll be replaced by former UFC middleweight, and recent World Series of Fighting welterweight Yushin Okami. On Monday morning, the PRIDE legend took to Instagram with a lengthy statement explaining his withdrawal from the fight.

Chris Taylor - September 16, 2017

Earlier tonight news broke that former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Shogun Rua was forced out of his scheduled rematch with Ovince Saint Preux due to an undisclosed injury. With that said, “OSP” will remain in the UFC Fight Night 117 main event as the UFC has brought back former middleweight title challenger Yushin Okami to fight on short notice.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, one of the biggest stars to emerge from the now defunct Japanese promotion PRIDE, will reportedly be returning to the land that made him famous this September 23. As speculated, the Brazilian legend’s opponent for this UFC Fight Night will be Ovince St. Preux. This report comes from The MMA Kings on Twitter.

bjpenndotcom - March 15, 2017

MMA legend Mauricio Shogun Rua has continued to continue his winning ways despite the fact that at 35 years old, and with fifteen professional fights, Rua is one of the most seasoned MMA veterans on the active UFC roster. Despite that, and several 2-fight skids in recent memories, Rua is currently on a 3-fight win streak that has seen him pick up back to back decision wins, before recently picking up a 3rd round TKO win over Gian Villante this past weekend in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

Mixed martial arts legend Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua scored yet another knockout victory at last night’s UFC Fight Night 106 event in Brazil, stopping Gian Villante in the third-round.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Last night, the UFC touched down in sun soaked Fortaleza, Brazil, with UFC Fight Night 106. This card was a stacked one as far as Fight Nights go. In the evening’s middleweight main event, we saw former welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum maul former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort to a first-round TKO win. Other highlights of the main card included another highlight-reel Edson Barboza knockout, a nice submission win from Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, and close battles between Bethe Correia and Marion Reneau and Ray Borg and Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva.

Chris Taylor - March 11, 2017

A light heavyweight bout between former division champion Mauricio Rua and Gian Villante served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 106 fight card in Brazil. Round one begins and Villante throws a left jab to start. Shogun replies with a leg kick and then a right hand. Mauricio catches a kick and throws Gian to the ground. Villante gets up and lands a hard left hand. Shogun returns fire with a good right. That shot seemed to hurt Gian. He backs up but then comes forward and lands a huge left hook that stuns the Brazilian. Shogun attempts to clinch. Gian shakes him off. Shogun circles and then fires off a right. He lands another counter right and then a jab to the body. Both men are swinging for the fences now. Shogun right a combination. Villante answers with a jab. Shogun misses with a wild right hand. He connects with a right and then a left that drops Gian. Villante gets back up but Shogun tags him with another right. Gian backs up and circles away. Shogun presses forward and lands a body shot followed by a left upstairs. He throws a leg kick that connects. Gian responds with a jab o his own. Round one comes to an end as Shogun lands a combination.

Tom Taylor - January 6, 2017

Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua now knows the details of his next fight. The former light heavyweight champ will be taking on Gian Villante on March 11 in Brazil, as part of UFC Fight Night 107. Shogun will enter this fight on a two-fight win-streak. His most recent win occurred all the way back in May, on the main card of UFC 198, when he nabbed a split decision from light heavyweight prospect Corey Anderson. Prior to that win, he out-duelled countryman Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a Fight of the Night winning battle. Before embarking on this win-streak, Shogun experienced back-to-back knockout losses at the hands of former interim title challenger Ovince St. Preux and recently retired MMA legend Dan Henderson. The former UFC light heavyweight champ, who also won the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, is now 24-10 in sum.

Russell Ess - April 8, 2016

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is a legend in mixed martial arts. The former PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion and former UFC light heavyweight champion had his first professional fight in 2002 but has had a hot and cold record particularly in the later half of his career. Despite coming off a win in a “Fight of the Night” against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, some critics question “Shogun’s” abilities and recent performances in the Octagon.