Mauricio Rua

Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua is a bona fide MMA legend and one of the greatest light heavyweights of all time. He first became a star in Japan's PRIDE organization, where his 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix run — featuring wins over the likes of Rampage Jackson, Alistair Overeem, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira — established him as one of the most devastating finishers in the world.

He later captured the UFC light heavyweight title by knocking out Lyoto Machida in their 2010 rematch. Though injuries and the mileage of a long, violent career caught up with him, Shogun fought on for years — including an all-time Fight-of-the-Year war with Dan Henderson in 2011 — before retiring in 2023 as a revered veteran whose prime remains the stuff of legend.