Shogun Rua Says His Boxing Match With Glover Teixeira Is the End

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua is stepping into a boxing ring Saturday in Sao Paulo to face fellow former UFC titleholder Glover Teixeira, and by his own account it's the final time he'll fight anywhere. The former UFC and PRIDE light heavyweight champion told reporters at the Spaten Fight Night 3 open workouts that he only came out of retirement for this one match, calling it the last chapter.

The pairing carries real weight. Rua and Teixeira, whose 33-9 record includes 18 knockouts and 10 submissions, both hung up their MMA gloves on the same night — UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro in January 2023 — where Rua fell to Ihor Potieria and Teixeira dropped a unanimous decision to Jamahal Hill. Rua framed this crossover bout as the piece his career was missing.

He's not hedging much on the future, but he's not slamming the door shut either. Rua said he considers himself a fulfilled fighter who's already shared the cage with the best in the world, and he doesn't expect to compete again. Still, he admitted he's a man wired for challenges and goals, so he stopped short of a hard "never."

A Camp Complicated by a Corner Ban

The buildup hasn't been entirely smooth. Rua ran his entire training camp with Andre Dida as head coach, but Dida won't be permitted inside the arena on fight night. The reason: he was tangled up in the mass brawl that erupted between the Wanderlei Silva and Acelino Freitas camps after the main event of Spaten's 2025 show.

Rua insists it's a non-issue. He said his full team has been with him since day one of camp, that Dida's people are also on site, and that he speaks with Dida daily to keep the game plan intact. He added that longtime mentor Rafael Cordeiro is in the loop too, describing the strategy as locked in and everyone aligned.

So this is the goodbye — or at least the version of it Rua is willing to commit to publicly. A boxing match against a man who walked away from MMA on the same night, in the same building, is a fittingly Brazilian way to close a career that ran through PRIDE and the UFC. Whether the story stays finished after Saturday, Rua isn't promising. But for now, he says the tomorrow is a mystery and this is the end.