| Name: | Mauricio Rua |  |
| Height: | 6′ 1″ (185 cm) | |
| Weight: | 205 (93 kg) | |
| Record: | 17-3-0 |
After the UFC took over Pride, Rua signed a gargantuan deal with the UFC and made his debut at UFC 76 on September 22, 2007. Upon signing with the UFC, Rua had to make significant changes to his game and adjusted to the UFC rulebook; those changes precluded knees and kicks to head when an opponent is down, which were allowed in Pride FC bouts .
Rua took on The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Forrest Griffin for his debut outing in the UFC.
Widely regarded as the best light heavyweight in the world, Rua was the Vegas favorite to win the Griffin bout. However, after Rua punched himself out during the second round, he found himself falling behind Griffin’s relentless pace. With only 15 seconds remaining in the fight Griffin forced Rua to tap out with a rear naked choke.
Rua suffered a ruptured ACL during training late last year, the same injury many say he suffered against Forrest Griffin.
A couple of surgeries later, Rua took on Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada at the Bell Centre on April 18 , 2009.
Rua (19-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), then knocked out Lyoto Machida at UFC 113 to earn the 205-pound title.
