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FanSided

PRIDE never die: Ranking the top 25 PRIDE fighters in history

By Chad Porto

Emelianenko Fedor, the Winner of the PRIDE Heavy Weight Title Match (Photo by Tomokazu Tazawa/Getty Images)
Emelianenko Fedor, the Winner of the PRIDE Heavy Weight Title Match (Photo by Tomokazu Tazawa/Getty Images) /
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BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 07: (Editors notes: This digital image has been converted to black and white) Shogun Rua of Brazil enters the ring before his bout against James Te Huna of Australia at the UFC Fight Night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on December 7, 2013 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 07: (Editors notes: This digital image has been converted to black and white) Shogun Rua of Brazil enters the ring before his bout against James Te Huna of Australia at the UFC Fight Night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on December 7, 2013 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images) /

4. Maurício ‘Shogun’ Rua

Premiering in PRIDE at the ripe young age of 22, the younger brother of Murilo, Mauricio Rua began a career that would see him become one of the best and most prominent names in all of MMA. He began that road by defeating men like Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona in four of his first eight fights in PRIDE. Wins over Kevin Randleman and Kazuhiro Nakamura, as well as a rematch victory over Overeem, would follow, capping off a PRIDE career that saw him go 12-1 over his 13 fights with the promotion.

The peak of his run came when he won the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix, beating the whos-who of fighters in the aforementioned Jackson, Rogerio (Lil Nog), Overeem, and Arona. Rua would go on to the UFC after PRIDE’s closure, where he’d go 10-8 (1 Draw) and win the UFC light heavyweight championship. During his UFC run, he’d rematch with several of his PRIDE colleagues, notably a return bout with Rogerio, where he again won. Despite a rocky start to his UFC run, where he’d lose to Forrest Griffin in his debut, his UFC career has been largely successful.

His time in PRIDE, however, was where he made his bones. He earned the name Shogun, and it became his callsign throughout his career. Often times being announced specifically as Shogun Rua. Rua will go down as an all-time great regardless of how his UFC career ends, or when it ends. His legacy and standing on this list would’ve been helped by a middleweight championship run and racking up some defenses with the title, something many PRIDE champions were allergic to apparently.

Rua would’ve gotten a title shot against then middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva, but Rua swore he’d never fight either his brother or Silva, due to their close and personal relationships. That vow kept Rua from ever going for the PRIDE middleweight championship, despite being equally qualified to challenge for it.