By Greg Rivera
After a three-year absence, the Ultimate Fighting Championships returned to Brazilian soil for UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro. The card featured 17 different Brazilian-born fighters across 15 fights. Among them was legendary light heavyweight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who retired after a first-round TKO loss to Ihor Potieria in the featured preliminary bout of UFC 283. Shogun’s accomplishments include winning the 2005 PRIDE FC middleweight Grand Prix championship by defeating and knocking out Ricardo Arona and Alistair Overeem on the same night! Then after the UFC acquired PRIDE FC and gained Shogun in the deal, Rua realized another world title in the light heavyweight division by knocking out Lyoto Machida in the first round of the main event fight at UFC 113 in May 2010. However, he lost his belt in his next match to Jon Jones, considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. The 41-year-old Rua competed professionally for nearly two decades, finishing his career with a record of 27-14-1 and regarded by many of his peers as Mixed Martial Arts royalty.
Similarly, in the main event, countryman Glover Teixeira retired after failing to regain his light heavyweight title against Jamahal Hill. The 43-year-old Texeira became the second-oldest champion in UFC history, behind only the legendary Randy Couture, after he defeated Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267 in October 2021. Seven months later, in his first title defense against Jiri Prochazca at UFC 274, Glover surprisingly lost the title by submission in the fight’s final seconds after dominating the entire contest. At UFC 283, he was attempting to regain the title vacated by Prochazca after he suffered a severe shoulder injury in training. Teixeira ended his MMA career with a record of 33-9 with a UFC record of 16-7. “In reality, I think I’m too tough for my own good and for my own health. I can’t keep up anymore,” Teixeira said through a translator during his Octagon interview with Daniel Cormier. After all, he won the light heavyweight championship for the first time at 42 years old. There is a strong chance that no other fighter will be able to accomplish that feat.
