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The Chute Boxe Prodigy Goes to His Biggest Battle Ever! In November of 2002 a kid was making his debut in our sport of Mixed Martial Arts. However, when he entered the ring a huge reaction from the crowd was noticed, and all the press started to pay absolute attention to the ring. There was a reason for that! The kid happened to be Murilo Ninja's brother, and was hyped as the next big thing coming out of the so feared Chute Boxe team. When you are part of a team with fearless fighters such as Wanderlei Silva, all-around guys such as Ninja himself, and technical stand-up fighters such as Anderson Silva, this must say a lot about a young fighter. The most impressive thing was that the kid truly lived up to the hype, and with only close to 1 year of training under the team he was already a pro fighter scoring a KO in his debut. However, many started to question the quality of his opponents, mostly when he scored his second win months later. Then the moment of truth came by, and Mauricio Shogun Rua stepped into a ring far from his hometown city to face a character that would scare most people away, starting with his looks, going through his antics, passing by his powerful punches that made several victims in recent times, and never forgetting his talk. In what was truly a war the Chute Boxe prodigy took care of Cyborg in little less than 10 minutes of an epic battle and erased all doubts of his potential and most importantly his heart! Now, times changed for Shogun and he is ready for an even tougher challenge, competing in the IFC tourney where he will have to win 3 fights in one night to become the champion, facing experienced fighters from all over the globe, and guess what? The kid is still the same, training hard and taking each fight at a time, as he commented on this friendly conversation with Full Contact Fighter! 
FCF: Let's start by talking about your fight at the last MECA show against Cyborg. This was the first time you fought out of your hometown of Curitiba [this edition of MECA was held in Teresopolis, a city near Rio de Janeiro]. How was it?Shogun: Man, it was the same thing for me. I felt at home there and it didn't change a bit for me. The only thing that was missing was the support of my mother and my girlfriend [Laughs] but this is part of the game. FCF: How about in the locker room this time? Did you feel as comfortable and relaxed as in your previous fights, during the warm-ups, stretches and things like this, considering there weren't many friends around this time? Shogun: It didn't change much cause locker rooms in Curitiba or Rio are of limited access Eduardo [Not always exactly true in Brazil]. Only authorized people will enter, so even in Curitiba all my buddies aren't able to enter it. Of course it feels better to fight here in Curitiba though, you can go and have dinner on a place you like on the day before the fight, there are lots of good things about fighting at home. FCF: This was the first time you also had to sleep in a hotel before a fight! How was it for you? [Laughs] Shogun: [Laughs] It was cool. I woke up late on the day of the fight, around 11 am I think. It was cool, I was able to sleep well and concentrate well for my fight. FCF: This was the first time you fought and I couldn't attend the weigh-ins. How was the atmosphere during it, and was Cyborg a tough guy during the weigh-ins and rules meeting? Shogun: During the weigh-ins he was like a kitty, not even looking to the sides. He weighed at 92.700 kg and I weighed 91.900 kg. I spent all day almost without eating anything, cause I left Curitiba weighing 93 kg and I was afraid of not making weight. I thought "I'm going to take it easy with the food" but I took it too far [Laughs] But I recovered everything during dinner, where I ate a lot! FCF: Did him stare down you a lot during the weigh-ins? Shogun: Not at all, cause we didn't have those traditional face to face pictures as we have in most shows, so there wasn't any room for this things. FCF: During your preparation for the fight, did you feel any special motivation since he had knocked out your training partner Silvio Urutum at MECA 7? Shogun: For sure! I even told Urutum that I would dedicate myself even more to this fight because of his loss. I told him "Look Urutum, I will give my best to avenge your loss. You can count on that". FCF: When you saw him in the ring with all that characteristic look, with his finger nails painted in black, his eyebrow cut, all dressed in black with that assassin look, etc, what went through your mind? Shogun: People had already told me that he enters the ring in that crazy killer style all the time. So I was already aware that I was going to meet a monster there at fighting-time, so I was just trying to focus on the fight and don't pay attention to his antics. FCF: Let's talk a bit about the fight itself now. Was your strategy to trade a bit with him standing up and take it to the ground when he was more tired, or was it something that came in the moment since he connected with some good strikes? Shogun: I entered the fight to trade strikes with him. But I ate a punch that got me dazed, so later I followed the instructions of my corner, that yelled me to take it to the ground. FCF: Did you think at any moment in the fight that you were in serious trouble? Shogun: No! Not at all. I never thought about quitting. FCF: What do you believe was the reason that he got the better of the stand up action in the fight? Shogun: I think that in this weight division the one that connects with the first good strike has advantage. It isn't like in lightweights. Also, he is a very good stand up fighter, so who would take the first good shot in the chin would be in trouble, cause this is what goes on at this weight. FCF: Do you think this was a good message to those that were questioning if you were ready for big time? Shogun: Surely! [Laughs] I guess now people have a better notion. FCF: Your fight against Cybor was just amazing. When you went to the ground you got him in several submission attempts, including a Katagatame choke, kneebar and a armbar. What was going through your mind getting all those submissions and never seeing the guy tap? Shogun: Man, he would never tap! First I got him in a katagatame choke, and my arm even went limb at a time during the attempt. So I was just thinking about not losing my position and hoping that I would always end on top of him, cause if I would force my positions a bit more, he could end up landing on top. That's why I would try the submissions till a certain time, then I would let go so I would stay on top. FCF: What do you think prevented that katagatame choke to putting him to sleep? Shogun: I think I lacked a bit more of muscle endurance there. FCF: What about the armbar? You had him in a straight armbar from the top for a long time! Shogun: I think I lacked a bit of calmness during the armbar Eduardo, so I would stop, think, adjust better the position and not let go. When I got him in the armbar and I saw that he wasn't tapping, I started to get tired of making that much strength, so I let go to be able to stay on top. If he would end up on top, he would have been able to hold me and stall the positions, but with me on top he wouldn't be able to do it! That's why I was trying to stay always on top so badly. FCF: During the fight there was a time that you were mounted, and you stood up and stomped him in the face. Did you feel angry at him during the fight? Shogun: Every time I fight I try to be aggressive, no matter who the opponent is. It wasn't because it was Cyborg, who is the "demolition man", the "assassin" and stuff like this that I was overly aggressive [Laughs]. It's just that in all my fights I enter trying to finish the fight as soon as possible. FCF: Near the end of the fight, while you were mounted and punishing him, were you already expecting Pedro Rizzo [the referee] to stop the fight, or were you thinking that the round would end in that position [the fight was stopped near the end of the 1st round]? Shogun: I mounted him at that moment and Rafael Cordeiro told me "Shogun, there are 20 seconds left!", so I thought "I'm going to go hard on this last 20 seconds" and I started punching him a lot. However, there were 1 minute left in fact! Then Pedro Rizzo stopped the fight, but if you pay close attention at the tape he taps in the very end Eduado!" FCF: Do you think this fight served to prove to the doubters that you are also a good jiu-jitsu fighter, despite not comming from a strongly oriented jiu-jitsu team? Shogun: Surely. Not only about me, but as for the whole team. Cristiano Marcello [Chute Boxe jiu-jitsu teacher] got very happy cause we were needing to show some good ground work, after the defeats of Nilson de Castro at MECA 8, Anderson Silva at PRIDE 25 and Marcelao at MECA 9 prior to my fight. So Cristiano got very happy with the ground stuff that I showed there. FCF: After the fight Cristiano gave you the brown belt in jiu-jitsu. What did this mean to you? Do you care about belts or since you're fighting MMA you don't care about them at all? Shogun: I care a lot about jiu-jitsu. I always wanted to compete in jiu-jitsu ever since I entered the Chute Boxe team, but I never had a chance to do it cause every time I would enter a jiu-jitsu competition it was near a MMA fight, so I would never be allowed to participate and take the risk of an injury. But I love jiu-jitsu! FCF: Will you enter a jiu-jitsu tournament as a brown belt now? Shogun: Man, for sure! If I have time to do it I'll do it, if I lost it I lost it, no big deal. FCF: Your next challenge will be a extremely tough IFC tournament, where you'll have to win three fights in one night to become champion, and will face some tough opponents in the process. What is your expectation for this event? Shogun: This will be my first international fight and I'm training a lot to represent my academy well there. If God helps we'll leave Denver with a good result. FCF: What are your feelings on fighting three times in one night? Shogun: To tell you the truth I won't even think about that. I'll think about my first fight, as if it's the first and only one. If I start to think about the second fight I won't even do the first one, so I'll think of every fight as the last. I have to take each step at a time and concentrate on it. FCF: You are fighting Paulo Filho out of the Brazilian Top Team in the first round. Does the fact that he comes from BTT gives you a special motivation for the match up? Shogun: It gives me a special motivation. Paulo Filho is a great fighter and I already know him as a fighter but I think there it's a brawl so there's no such thing... FCF: [Laughs] Shogun: [Laughs] Ain't I right Eduardo? [Laughs] FCF: Of course you are! [Laughs] Shogun: You have to try from beginning to end there. But there's still a certain rivalry between the two camps for sure, so I want to represent well our team and our Muay Thai. FCF: Do you think you'll still fight in events such as MECA here in Brazil if you win the IFC tournament, or your path is now only abroad? Shogun: Man, I don't know. Where my professor tells me to fight, I'll fight. It doesn't matter if it is at STORM again or whatever, I'll fight everywhere he sends me. FCF: Maybe a chess tournament as well, or a table tennis one [Laughs] Shogun: [Laughs] Yeah... jiu-jitsu would be better though. FCF: There's a chance this may be the first time you'll fight without your brother [Murilo Ninja Rua] in your corner in your life. Do you think this changes anything for you? Shogun: It changes things for sure Eduardo, but I'll be well prepared to be there with my masters who also helped me a lot. I'll present myself well even with my brother here in Brazil, and hopefully bring good news to him when I come back. FCF: Do you think this tournament can open all the doors in Japan for you? Shogun: My goal now is to win this tournament, and the rest I think it's going to happen naturally Eduardo. I think I'll do my best now in the USA and if PRIDE happens later, it'll be consequence of the good work I would've done there. I don't worry about tomorrow, I worry about today, about my next fight! If I worry about today and focus myself, I'll reach even better things tomorrow. If I just focus on my future, I won't perform well today. It's like I told you about the fights on the tournament, I have to take each step at a time and do my best in all of them. FCF: What do you believe are the toughest fighters you can face in tournament? Shogun: There are a lot of good fighters there, such as Paulo Filho and Renato Babalu. There's also a lot of good American fighters such as Jeremy Horn. But I'll fight against anyone. This is my profession and is where I make my money, so I don't choose opponents, whomever I need to fight, I'll fight. FCF: With all the success you're reaching as a fighter, and taking part on the IFC tourney, how will your modeling career be from now on? [Shogun does some works as a model in Brazil] Shogun: Man, I even got a call to do a modeling job these days, but I couldn't take it. When I'm about to fight I don't take any modeling jobs. But if something good appears after the fight, I'll gladly do it! [Laughs] FCF: Any final message for your fans? Shogun: I want to thank all the support and tell them to be sure that I'm training a lot to represent well my academy and not let anyone down! FCF: Any final message to those who said you wouldn't be able to survive against Cyborg? Shogun: Man! Now I have to think about what to say... FCF: [Laughs] You don't like to hype things... Shogun: [Laughs] No, you know I don't [Laughs] FCF: I'll leave it like that man! Thanks a lot for the interview! Shogun: Thank you Eduardo, it was my pleasure! |
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