Murilo Rua

Murilo Rua
Born	May 22, 1980 (1980-05-22) (age 31) Curitiba, Brazil
Other names	Ninja
Nationality	Brazilian
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	185 lb (83.9 kg; 13.2 st)
Division	Middleweight (185 lb) Light Heavyweight (205 lb)
Style	Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Fighting out of	Curitiba, Brazil
Team	Universidade da luta[1]
Rank	Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active	2000–2011
Mixed martial arts record
Total	33
Wins	20
By knockout	9
By submission	9
By decision	2
Losses	12
By knockout	6
By decision	6
Draws	1
Other information
Notable relatives	Mauricio Rua (brother)
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: September 13, 2011 (2011-09-13)

Murilo Rua (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁuɐ]; born May 22, 1980) is a former Brazilian mixed martial artist who fought in Pride Fighting Championships. Nicknamed Ninja, he is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He is known for his well-rounded fighting skills, in particular Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Rua is a veteran of Pride Fighting Championships, where he once enjoyed a reputation as one of the strongest middleweights in the world. Rua regularly fought at 185 pounds, but has also fought at 205 pounds and heavyweight. He is the former (and first ever) Elite XC middleweight champion. He also had a successful career in British MMA appearing on both Cage Rage and BAMMA cards. He is of Portuguese and Italian descent, but was born in Brazil.

Mixed martial arts career

Rua started his career at Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil, a Muay Thai training group which has produced champions like Wanderlei Silva. Ninja's first foray into MMA was with Brazilian based Meca World Vale Tudo, there he amassed an impressive 5–0–1 record before signing with Pride Fighting Championships.

Ninja made his PRIDE debut against Daijiro Matsui in September 2001, which he won via referee stoppage after repeated kicks and stomps. After losing a close decision to Dan Henderson, Rua went on to defeat such fighters as Alex Andrade, Akira Shoji, Alexander Otsuka and Mario Sperry. The latter being the beginnings of the long lasting rivalry between Chute Boxe and Brazilian Top Team. Rua lost to Ricardo Arona in a close battle of attrition, and Sergei Kharitonov in the Pride Total Elimination 2004, where he fought as a heavyweight, suffering a brutal knockout loss.

At Pride 29, Rua faced Quinton Jackson. Jackson won via a split decision that did not seem to reflect the events of the match. Jackson appeared embarrassed with the result and attempted to offer the winner's trophy to Rua following the decision. Commentators such as Mauro Ranallo and Bas Rutten, who were present at the bout, also have stated that they thought Rua had won the fight.

Rua fought three more times in Pride, defeating newcomer Murad Chunkaiev before dropping a lacklustre decision against top ranked Paulo Filho. Nevertheless, Rua was selected as part of the Pride welterweight (185 pound) Grand Prix. In the opening bracket, however, he was knocked out by Denis Kang. Rua then left Pride for a tenure with British MMA promotion Cage Rage in order to strengthen the tie between the two promotions. His first bout, against English UFC veteran Mark Weir, resulted in a victory by submission after a rough and tumble affair. He also defeated Alex Reid via doctor stoppage before the newly created EliteXC organization purchased Cage Rage, therefore he fought for the vacant Elite XC middleweight at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni against Greg Jackson trained Joey Villasenor and recorded a second round TKO, stopping Villasenor with strikes. After three months as the champion, his first title defense came to ICON sport middleweight champion Robbie Lawler. Despite narrowly winning the first two rounds, an exhausted Ninja was defeated via a third round TKO at EliteXC: Uprising. He rebounded with a victory over Muay Thai fighter and Cage Rage contender Xavier Foupa-Pokam at Cage Rage 24: Feel the pain.

On December 18, 2007, Sherdog.com reported that both Rua and his brother Mauricio had left the Chute Boxe camp with plans to open up their own facility in Massachusetts. The Ruas' new camp was named Universidade da luta, which translates to "University of Fighting", and instead was opened in the Ruas' hometown of Curitiba, Brazil.

Rua was initially scheduled to fight Phil Baroni on the May 31, 2008, EliteXC card, however, he suffered a minor foot injury which led him to fight on the June 14 card instead, where he recorded a dominant KO victory over undefeated Tony Bonello. On October 4, 2008, Rua was defeated by Benji Radach on a live CBS broadcast. Radach finished the fight with punches to Rua's head after a failed flying knee sent him sprawling on his back.

Rua made his Dream debut at Dream 8 against Riki Fukuda on April 5, 2009. His original opponent was supposed to be Dong Sik Yoon but Dong was injured and Riki was found as a late replacement. Rua went on to lose against Riki by unanimous decision. After winning both of his latest bouts at Bitetti Combat MMA 4 and Bitetti Combat MMA 5 in the Light Heavyweight division, Rua hinted that he will continue fighting at 205 lb.

Rua was supposed to fight Falaniko Vitale at Shine Fights 3 on May 15, 2010. The middleweight bout between Falaniko Vitale and Rua, previously announced for Shine Fights Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas, was scrapped due to an injury sustained by Vitale.

Rua was planning to participate in Dream 14, though that event canceling led to other plans ^[2]

Rua beat Jeremy May on July 18, 2010 at Impact Fighting Championships by submission via guillotine choke.

Rua lost to Cesar Gracie product Roy Boughton via unanimous decision on October 23, 2010 (2010-10-23). Boughton missed weight by 11 lbs.

"Ninja" fought Tom Watson for the BAMMA Middleweight Title on May 21, 2011. The fight proved to be a one sided affair, with Rua being rocked several times throughout the fight, as well as being visibly hurt with leg kicks. The end came at 2:06 of the third round after Watson stunned Rua with a head kick and followed up with strikes until the referee stepped in to save the unconscious Rua.^{[citation needed]}

After Rua loss against Tom Watson, he said he would not continue fighting and would retire.

Personal life

Rua and longtime girlfriend Ana married on October 8, 2004 in Curitiba, Brazil.^[3] The couple have two sons,one who was born in August 2008 and one named Jose Lucas who was born March 15, 2010.^[4][5]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

• EliteXC
  • EliteXC Middleweight Championship (1 Time, First)

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
33 matches	20 wins	12 losses
By knockout	9	6
By submission	9	0
By decision	2	6
Draws	1

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	20-12-1	Tom Watson	KO (head kick and punches)	BAMMA 6	02011-05-21May 21, 2011	3	2:06	London, England	For the BAMMA Middleweight Championship
Loss	20–11–1	Roy Boughton	Decision (unanimous)	W-1 New Ground	02010-10-23 October 23, 2010	3	5:00	Nova Scotia, Canada	Boughton missed contracted weight (190) by 5.5 pounds[6]
Win	20–10–1	Jeremy May	Submission (guillotine choke)	Impact FC 2	02010-07-18 July 18, 2010	1	4:12	Sydney, Australia	Fought at 185 lb
Win	19–10–1	Arturo Arcemendes	Submission (arm-triangle choke)	Bitetti Combat MMA 7	02010-05-28 May 28, 2010	1	1:27	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Fought at 205 lb
Win	18–10–1	Jason Jones	TKO (punches)	Bitetti Combat MMA 5	02009-12-12 December 12, 2009	2	3:20	São Paulo, Brazil	Fought at 205 lb
Win	17–10–1	Alex Stiebling	TKO (head kick and strikes)	Bitetti Combat MMA 4	02009-09-12 September 12, 2009	1	0:39	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Fought at 205 lb
Loss	16–10–1	Riki Fukuda	Decision (unanimous)	Dream 8	02009-04-05 April 5, 2009	2	5:00	Nagoya, Japan
Loss	16–9–1	Benji Radach	KO (punches)	EliteXC: Heat	02008-10-04 October 4, 2008	2	2:31	Sunrise, Florida, United States
Win	16–8–1	Tony Bonello	KO (punches)	EliteXC: Return of the King	02008-06-14 June 14, 2008	1	3:16	Hawaii, United States
Win	15–8–1	Xavier Foupa-Pokam	Submission (rear naked choke)	Cage Rage 24	02007-12-01 December 1, 2007	2	3:47	London, England
Loss	14–8–1	Robbie Lawler	KO (strikes)	EliteXC: Uprising	02007-09-15 September 15, 2007	3	2:04	Hawaii, United States	Lost Elite XC Middleweight Championship
Win	14–7–1	Joey Villasenor	TKO (strikes)	Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni	02007-06-22 June 22, 2007	2	1:05	California, United States	Became First Elite XC Middleweight Champion
Win	13–7–1	Alex Reid	TKO (cut on the shin)	Cage Rage 21	02007-04-21 April 21, 2007	1	0:28	London, England
Win	12–7–1	Mark Weir	Submission (arm-triangle choke)	Cage Rage 18	02006-09-30 September 30, 2006	2	1:15	London, England
Loss	11–7–1	Denis Kang	KO (punches)	Pride Bushido 11	02006-06-04 June 4, 2006	1	0:15	Saitama, Saitama, Japan	Pride 2006 WW GP Opening Round
Loss	11–6–1	Paulo Filho	Decision (unanimous)	Pride Bushido 10	02006-04-02 April 2, 2006	2	5:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	11–5–1	Murad Chunkaiev	Submission (heel hook)	Pride 30	02005-10-23 October 23, 2005	1	3:31	Saitama, Saitama, Japan	Drops to 185 lb
Loss	10–5–1	Quinton Jackson	Decision (split)	Pride 29	02005-02-20 February 20, 2005	3	5:00	Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Loss	10–4–1	Sergei Kharitonov	KO (punches)	Pride Total Elimination 2004	02004-04-25 April 25, 2004	1	4:14	Saitama, Saitama, Japan	Pride 2004 HW GP Opening Round
Win	10–3–1	Alexander Otsuka	Submission (side choke)	Pride 27	02004-02-01 February 1, 2004	1	5:25	Osaka, Japan
Win	9–3–1	Akira Shoji	KO (flying knee)	Pride Shockwave 2003	02003-12-31 December 31, 2003	1	2:24	Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Loss	8–3–1	Kevin Randleman	TKO (cut)	Pride 24	02002-12-23 December 23, 2002	3	0:20	Japan
Loss	8–2–1	Ricardo Arona	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 23	02002-11-24 November 24, 2002	3	5:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	8–1–1	Mario Sperry	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 20	02002-04-28 April 28, 2002	3	5:00	Yokohama, Japan
Win	7–1–1	Alex Andrade	Decision (unanimous)	Pride 18	02001-12-23 December 23, 2001	3	5:00	Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
Loss	6–1–1	Dan Henderson	Decision (split)	Pride 17	02001-11-03 November 3, 2001	3	5:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	6–0–1	Daijiro Matsui	TKO (soccer kicks and stomps)	Pride 16	02001-09-24 September 24, 2001	3	0:51	Osaka, Japan
Win	5–0–1	Rogerio Sagate	Submission (keylock)	Meca World Vale Tudo 5	02001-06-09 June 9, 2001	1	3:54	Curitiba, Brazil
vDraw	4–0–1	Akihiro Gono	Draw	Shooto: To The Top 4	02001-05-01 May 1, 2001	3	5:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	4–0	Leopoldo Serao	TKO (cut)	Meca World Vale Tudo 4	02000-12-16 December 16, 2000	1	7:00	Curitiba, Brazil
Win	3–0	Luiz Claudio das Dores	Submission (retirement)	Meca World Vale Tudo 3	02000-11-14 November 14, 2000	1	3:00	Curitiba, Brazil
Win	2–0	Israel Albuquerque	Submission (shoulder injury)	Meca World Vale Tudo 2	02000-08-12 August 12, 2000	1	1:36	Curitiba, Brazil
Win	1–0	Adriano Verdelli	Submission (triangle choke)	Meca World Vale Tudo 1	02000-05-27 May 27, 2000	1	3:08	Brazil

References

1. ^ "The downfall of BTT and Chute Boxe". ESPN.com. 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3253436&type=story. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
2. ^ http://brokeyou.com/mma_news/333/Murilo_Ninja_Rua_vs_Falaniko_Vitale_at_Shine_Fights_III.html
3. ^ Chute Boxe star and Pride veteran Murilo "Ninja" Rua finally got married to his long time girlfriend Ana Paula Sanson on October 8 in the city of Curitiba, Brazil.
4. ^ "Murilo 'Ninja' father again, back at Dream 14". Tatame.com. 2009-0-27. http://www.tatame.com/2010/03/17/Murilo-Ninja-father-again-back-at-Dream-13. Retrieved 2009-03-19. 
5. ^ "Murilo 'Ninja' father again, back at Dream 14". Tatame.com. 2010-03-17. http://www.tatame.com/2010/03/17/Murilo-Ninja-father-again-back-at-Dream-13. Retrieved 2010-03-19. 
6. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Rogers-Ninja-Return-Under-Warrior-1-MMA-Banner-27708

External links

• Official website
• Professional MMA record for Murilo Rua from Sherdog
• Murilo Rua's ProElite.com Profile
• Murilo Rua's EliteXC Profile

New championship

1st Elite XC Middleweight Champion June 22, 2007 – September 15, 2007

Succeeded by Robbie Lawler

Persondata
Name	Rua, Murilo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 22, 1980
Place of birth	Curitiba, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death