Marco Ruas
Marco Ruas | |
---|---|
Years active | 1984–2001, 2007 |
Mixed martial arts record | |
Total | 15 |
Wins | 9 |
By knockout | 2 |
By submission | 7 |
Losses | 4 |
By knockout | 3 |
By decision | 1 |
Draws | 2 |
Other information | |
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog |
Marco Antônio de Lima Ruas (Portuguese pronunciation:
Ruas is a pioneer of
Ruas transformed his style in his own hybrid martial art which he called "Ruas Vale Tudo". In some later events, his fighting style was simply billed as "Vale Tudo".[4]
Biography
Ruas was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1961. He started his career training Boxing, Taekwondo, Judo, and Capoeira, the latter with renowned José Tadeu Carneiro Cardoso in Rio de Janeiro at the Santa Luzia club, downtown Rio. However, his primary martial arts eventually became Luta Livre, which he trained under Roberto Leitão Sr.,[5] and Muay Thai, which he trained under Luiz Alves, a student of Nélio "Naja" Borges, the man who introduced Thai boxing to Brazil.[6]
As a black belt in Luta Livre, who faced up a legendary quarrel against the
Eventually, Ruas became famous among the Brazilian martial arts circle and one of the most regarded non-BJJ fighters in Brazil due his philosophy of Cross-Training and in synthesizing all martial arts he knew for both Vale Tudo contests and self-defense into a new hybrid martial art he dubbed "Ruas Vale Tudo".[3][4] However, this philosophy also caused controversy among Brazilian fighters and he was labelled as a Creonte by not only BJJ but also by Luta Livre fighters.[10]
In 1991 he was going to participate in Desafio - Jiu Jitsu vs Luta Livre, an event fought as a challenge between fighters from the two martial arts, Ruas was cast to fight BJJ representative Amaury Bitetti but cancelled his participation and Bitetti was declared winner by W.O.[11] Instead, in 1992 he promoted his own event in Manaus where he defeated Francisco Borges with a rear naked choke.[12] Eventually he attracted the attention of Brazilian manager and fight promoter Frederico Lapenda and was able to get the 34-year-old fighter into the Ultimate Fighting Championship.[3]
Ruas debuted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the UFC 7 event in 1995. At the event, he was billed representing "Vale Tudo".[13] He firstly faced Larry Cureton, who outweighed him by 40 lbs, but Ruas submitted him with a heel hook after a methodical grapple. His next opponent was the judoka Remco Pardoel, who early tried a guillotine choke, but Ruas blocked it and grinded him with foot stomps. After a failed heel hook attempt, Ruas controlled Pardoel and attacked him with knees and punches on the ground, making him tap out. Ruas's final fight was against 6'8", 330 lb Paul Varelans, and he showed his muay thai skills by overwhelming Varelans with punch combos and repeated leg kicks. He also used again his characteristic foot stomps when Paul clinched him against the cage. At the end, Varelans could not take more kicks to his legs and fell to the ground, where Ruas pounded him until the referee stopped the fight, giving Ruas the victory of the tournament.
Thanks to his victory in UFC 7, Ruas was invited to the
Ruas briefly joined the stable of Antônio "Sebastião" Lacerda, a wealthy man from the north of Brazil and self-proclaimed "Master of Death" who appeared in Rio de Janeiro in 1996 claiming to have spent a long period of time in Japan learning "the deadly art of Yawara." Despite his dubious credentials, Lacerda was able to recruit some established competitors into his sect, including Ruas and Edson Carvalho, a judo national team member and a Carlson Gracie black belt. Seeking opportunities to compete professionally, Ruas began training with Lacerda after Lacerda promised to take him to lucrative competitions abroad, on the condition that he agree to merge his style of vale tudo with Lacerda's techniques. Ruas parted ways with Lacerda when he began to question the effectiveness of Lacerda's techniques and practices,[14] but Carvalho continued participating in Lacerda's challenge, constantly attacking not only jiu-jitsu but all fighting styles.[15]
He was then invited to
Around that time, Ruas started to transition from a fighter into a full-time coach, teaching his own "Ruas Vale Tudo" style for a new generation of fighters. Some of his students include UFC light-heavyweight contender
At this point semi-retired, in 2001 Ruas defeated Jason Lambert at Ultimate Pankration in California in less than 1 minute with a heel hook.
Marco Ruas was invited to participate in the newly formed MMA promotion
Personal life
Ruas is married and has three daughters.[20] Marco's first recorded fight was in 1984. Marco's nickname is "The King of the Streets" (Ruas actually means "streets" in Portuguese).[21] Marco lives in
Feud with Rickson Gracie
Ruas developed a feud with
A few years later, both Rickson Gracie and Marco Ruas would gain international fame, Rickson Gracie became winner of the
In popular culture
Ruas made a cameo appearance as a jealous husband in Kickboxer 3, in which his character fought and lost to Sasha Mitchell's David Sloane at a party.
Instructor lineage
Luta Livre
Roberto Leitão Sr. → João Ricardo N. de Almeida → Marco Ruas[5]
Roberto Leitão Sr. → Marco Ruas[8]
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Judo
Capoeira
Manuel dos Reis Machado → José Tadeu Carneiro Cardoso → Marco Ruas
Muay Thai
Nelio Naja → Luiz Alves → Marco Ruas[29][6]
Taekwondo
Won Jae Lee → Marco Ruas
Championships and accomplishments
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC 7 Tournament Champion
- Ultimate Ultimate 1995 Semi-Finalist
- UFC Viewers Choice Award[30]
- World Vale Tudo Championship
- WVC Superfight Championship (one time)
- Rio Boxing Tournament
- Boxing Champion (one time)
Mixed martial arts record
15 matches | 9 wins | 4 losses |
By knockout | 2 | 3 |
By submission | 7 | 0 |
By decision | 0 | 1 |
Draws | 2 |
Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 9–4–2 | Maurice Smith
|
TKO (corner stoppage) | IFL: Chicago | 19 May 2007 | 4 | 3:43 | Chicago, Illinois , United States
|
|
Win | 9–3–2 | Jason Lambert | Submission (heel hook) | Ultimate Pankration 1 | 11 November 2001 | 1 | 0:56 | Cabazon, California, United States | |
Loss | 8–3–2 | Maurice Smith
|
TKO (corner stoppage) | UFC 21 | 16 July 1999 | 1 | 5:00 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States | |
Loss | 8–2–2 | Alexander Otsuka | TKO (corner stoppage) | Pride 4 | 11 October 1998 | 2 | 10:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
Win | 8–1–2 | Gary Goodridge | Submission (heel hook) | Pride 2
|
15 March 1998 | 1 | 9:09 | Yokohama, Japan | |
Win | 7–1–2 | Patrick Smith | Submission (heel hook) | World Vale Tudo Championship 4 | 16 March 1997 | 1 | 0:39 | Brazil | |
Draw | 6–1–2 | Oleg Taktarov | Draw | World Vale Tudo Championship 2 | 10 November 1996 | 1 | 31:12 | Brazil | |
Win | 6–1–1 | Steve Jennum | TKO (submission to punches) | World Vale Tudo Championship 1 | 14 August 1996 | 1 | 1:44 | Tokyo, Japan | Won WVC Superfight Championship.[31] |
Loss | 5–1–1 | Oleg Taktarov | Decision | Ultimate Ultimate 1995 | 16 December 1995 | 1 | 18:00 | Denver, Colorado , United States
|
Ultimate Ultimate 1995 Tournament Semifinals. |
Win | 5–0–1 | Keith Hackney | Submission (rear naked choke) | 1 | 2:39 | Ultimate Ultimate 1995 Tournament Quarterfinals. | |||
Win | 4–0–1 | Paul Varelans | TKO (leg kicks and punches) | UFC 7 | 8 September 1995 | 1 | 13:17 | Buffalo, New York, United States | Won the UFC 7 Tournament. |
Win | 3–0–1 | Remco Pardoel | Submission (position) | 1 | 12:27 | UFC 7 Tournament Semifinals. | |||
Win | 2–0–1 | Larry Cureton | Submission (heel hook) | 1 | 3:23 | UFC 7 Tournament Quarterfinals. | |||
Win | 1–0–1 | Francisco Francisco | Submission (rear naked choke) | Ruas Vale Tudo | 1 July 1992 | 1 | 0:26 | Manaus, Brazil | |
Draw | 0–0–1 | Fernando Pinduka | Draw | Jiu-Jitsu vs Luta Livre | 30 November 1984 | 1 | 20:00 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Filmography
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1992 | Kickboxer III: The Art of War | Himself |
2004 | The Eliminator | Salvador |
References
- ^ "Marco Ruas Sherdog Profile". Sherdog.com.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "JJ vs. MA - Jiu-Jitsu vs. Martial Arts". Sherdog. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ a b c Sherdog.com. "Why Marco Ruas Should Be in the Hall of Fame". Sherdog. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ a b c PVT (12 September 2019). "Marco Ruas relembra o surgimento do nome Ruas Vale-Tudo no UFC 7". Portal do Vale Tudo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ a b "DSTRYRsg: Destroyer Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: KNOW YOUR DNA, THE LUTA LIVRE FAMILY TREE". dstryrsg.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ a b "The Development of Muay Thai: Brazil; Pt. 2". Write. Create. Innovate. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "JJ vs. MA - Jiu-Jitsu vs. Martial Arts". Sherdog. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- ^ a b c "IMARA - Articoli - Ruas Marco 3rd Dan Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ Joe Moreira
- ^ a b "Marco Ruas: Pioneiro do MMA completa 60 anos; legado é divisor de águas no mundo das lutas". Nocaute na Rede (in Brazilian Portuguese). 23 January 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "The Biggest Rivalry in Martial Arts History: BJJ vs Luta Livre | BJJ Heroes". Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "RVT - Ruas Vale Tudo". Sherdog. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ Abraham, Joel. "UFC 7 Review: Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- Globo.com(17 September 2020)
- Sherdog.com (31 January 2022) Archived 1 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Erich Krauss, Brett Aita. Brawl: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Mixed Martial Arts Competition
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Renato". Sherdog. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Portal do Vale Tudo - José Aldo é graduado faixa preta de luta livre". 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Aldo's striking coach and leg-kick pioneer Pedro Rizzo says that Conor McGregor is the real deal". SportsJOE.ie. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ Marco Ruas Biofile. mmamemories.com
- ^ Pride Fighting Championships (15 March 1998). "Marco Rua Vs Gary Goodridge Pride 2". The Ultimate Fighting Championship FIGHT PASS. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Fellipe Awi, Filho teu não foge à luta, 2012, Editora Intrinseca
- ^ a b "The Biggest Rivalry in Martial Arts History: BJJ vs Luta Livre | BJJ Heroes". Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Wanderlei and Marco Ruas challenge Rickson Gracie – ADCC NEWS". 4 June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ Rickson Gracie interview 4, Onthemat.com
- ^ Marco Ruas interview, Reocities
- ^ BJJ Heroes (26 July 2010). "Joe Moreira". BJJ Heroes: the jiu jitsu encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ "Exclusive: Maeda Was Already Teaching Jiu-Jitsu In Rio 10 Years Before The Gracies". Bjj Eastern Europe. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ T.P. Grant (25 June 2012). "MMA Origins: Brazilian Vale Tudo Evolves As Chute Boxe Emerges". Bloody Elbow. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ UFC 45: Revolution Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Fighttimes.com (21 November 2003). Retrieved on 2012-08-30.
- ^ "Fighters". www.ruasmartialarts.com. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2022.