Former undisptued UFC light heavyweight champion and former Pride FC middleweight Grand Prix winner, Shogun Rua has bowed out of the sport of professional mixed martial arts in the midst of a losing skid, dropping a first round TKO loss to promotional newcomer, Ihor Portieria in the featured preliminary bout of UFC 283 in Brazil.
Rua, a hometown favorite, confirmed prior to tonight’s event in Rio de Janeiro that he would be calling time on his professional mixed martial arts career — which included title victories during both his tenures with Japan-based promotion, Pride FC, and the UFC.
Struggling with the striking of Ukraine native, Portieria, Rua dropped a first round TKO loss to the Dana White‘s Contender Series alum — marking the end of his tenure in the sport.
A fan-favorite throughout his professional career, throughout his time in the sport, the future UFC Hall of Fame inductee has chalked up wins over the likes of Rampage Jackson, Minotouro Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, Ricardo Arona, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, and Forrest Griffin to name a few.