The career of Murilo “Ninja” Rua, MMA veteran and brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, has ended. Rua fought on the BAMMA 6 last Saturday, losing to Tom Watson.
After the fight, “Ninja” announced his retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts, ending the career of a well-known and beloved fighter. Rua was the former Elite XC middleweight champion and fought in Pride Fighting Championships for years along with his brother.
Rua announced the news of his retirement on Twitter. He stated:
“Congratulations to my opponent Tom Watson in the victory tonight, he was better and deserved. I would like to announce officially my retirement from PRO MMA fights tonight. It was an amazing run, and it’s a very tough moment but there comes a time for all in life, and it’s time to move on. I am proud of all I did in MMA and all experiences I had. I will continue to work with MMA, doing seminars, [t]eaching classes, training fighters, and doing my share to help our sport that I love so much.”
Rua would go on to thank the people that helped him in his career. Rua said:
“I want to also thank to all the trainers that helped me from day 1 as a white belt until now. All training partners that pushed me so much, all sponsors that believed and still believe in myself. All my friends in the press. Many thanks to Bad Boy MMA and BVA Bank and mostly, I want to thank my true friends, my family, my mom and dad, my wife that I love so much, my kids who are my joy and my brothers. I want to thank my manager for being my friend, and I want to sincerely thank my brother [Marucio Rua] for all support and making me so proud. Life goes on, memories will stay forever, and MMA will still be my life forever. Thank you so much you all! — Murilo “Ninja” Rua.”
He will be missed but it is nice to see a fighter know when to hang it up.
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