Though the sun long ago began to set on the career of one of the
all-time greats,
Mauricio Rua
still believes he has a little more to give.
The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder will return to the
cage for the first time in more than a year when he rematches
Ovince St.
Preux in a
UFC
274 light heavyweight showcase on Saturday at the Footprint
Center in Phoenix. Rua suffered a 34-second knockout loss to St.
Preux in 2014. Now 40 years of age, “Shogun” has compiled a 5-2-1
record across his eight appearances since. He last competed at UFC
255, where
Paul Craig
struck him into submission in the second round of their Nov. 21,
2020 encounter.
In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Rua discusses his
unforgettable run in
Pride Fighting Championships, his decision to venture into the
business world and his motivations at this late stage of his
remarkable career:
Sherdog.com: It has been almost 20 years since your mixed martial
arts debut. What do you remember about the experience?
Rua: I actually started fighting because of my brother [
Murilo Rua].
He encouraged me. My professional debut was against
Rafael
Freitas, who was already pretty experienced. He was a jiu-jitsu
brown belt. He had good muay Thai. I was a novice. I was simply
“Ninja’s brother.” I was very nervous, but thank God I was able to
put my gameplan into action and walk away with a victory. I started
out on the right foot.
Sherdog.com: Before you joined Pride, your only loss had been to
Renato
Sobral and you had won a war against
Evangelista
Santos. Can you talk about those fights?
Rua: Without a doubt, my fight against “Cyborg” was my first
classic. Back then, nobody wanted to face him. He had a hard time
getting booked. He’d annihilate guys in seconds. I had just knocked
out
Angelo
Antonio de Oliveira [in the Meca World Vale Tudo promotion],
and he had recently knocked out my training partner
Silvio de
Souza in about 10 seconds. Thankfully, I was able to get my
game going against him and got the win.
Sherdog.com: Your sixth bout was your Pride debut, which resulted
in you knocking out
Akira Shoji.
During your initial five-fight knockout streak in the promotion,
Cristiano
Marcello mentioned that he and your other cornermen were having
a lot of fun. This was especially true against
Hiromitsu
Kanehara and
Yasuhito
Namekawa since everything you did in the ring was so aggressive
and dominant. What details do you recall?
Rua: Namekawa was a very tough fighter from Japan. Thankfully, I
did very well in that fight. It’s always interesting that in Japan,
even in a packed stadium, you could still talk to your corner. I
would often talk to my cornermen: master
Rafael
[Cordeiro], my brother and Cristiano. That particular fight was
funny because they were laughing and goofing around in the corner,
telling me to beat up “that scoundrel.” Cristiano talked about it
recently. I fully respect Namekawa, but this actually did
happen.
Sherdog.com: Which current fighters do you take the time to
watch?
Rua: From the new generation, I enjoy watching
Charles
Oliveira. I believe he’s one of the most complete MMA fighters
today. His ground work and muay Thai are super good. I always look
forward to his fights.
Sherdog.com: You went 12-1 in Pride, with your one loss coming to
Mark
Coleman when you broke your arm during a takedown. You were
considered the best fighter in the world in your weight class
during that time. What are some of your best recollections?