MURILO RUA

ATTRIBUTES

OFFENSIVE SKILLS

DEFENSIVE SKILLS

ULTIMATE TECHNIQUES

STRONG LEFT/RIGHT KNEE

Level 1—Muay Thai Clinch, Offense

Take advantage of “Ninja’s” strength in the clinch. Launch strong knees to your opponent’s head.

JUMPING RIGHT HEAD KICK

Level 1—Both Standing, Striking Range

Rua whips power into this head kick. Follow with a defensive jab.

DIRECT CATCH TO ANKLE LOCK

Level 1—Open Guard, Top

This nice ankle lock has the submission switch to a Level 2 heel hook.

STRENGTHS

• Aggressive style

• Muay Thai

• Experience

Shogun’s older brother, Murilo “Ninja” Rua, is a bit smaller but has quite a few effective techniques of his own in his Muay Thai arsenal.

Rua is a PRIDE light heavyweight, so he’s only 185, but he’s faced Rampage Jackson and Kevin Randleman in the PRIDE ring at 205, and he narrowly lost to Dan Henderson in a split decision.

“Ninja” is best on his feet and has heavy punches, and his flying head kick shoots in after a step (hold the Technique Modifier button).

Ninja is not known for his grappling skill, but he does have a couple of crafty submissions.

He is a much better grappler from the top than he is from the bottom, and he catches some decent submission from there. O

n your feet, clinch up or stay outside with strikes to make quick work of your opponent.

WEAKNESSES

• Working from his back

• Wrestling

• Submission defense

“Ninja” is a good Muay Thai fighter. So with that in mind, intend to do everything else in the Octagon.

Take him down and put him on his back and keep control. He’s good on his feet and good in the clinch, but has only mediocre takedown defense.

Move into Side Control and block his transitions—he doesn’t have any special sweeps, so he’ll simply fight to get back to guard.

When you are on top and you’ve done a bit of damage, sink in a submission for the win.

If he escapes, attempt to re-engage on the ground to keep him away from his real weapons on his feet.