This Day in MMA History: August 17

When Mauricio Rua and Chael Sonnen met in the main event of UFC Fight Night 26 on Aug. 17, 2013, both were looking for some redemption after recent losses. Sonnen had been smashed just a few months earlier by Jon Jones in a fight in which he had nonetheless come bizarrely close to becoming light heavyweight champion, as Jones had suffered a gruesome toe injury that would have led to a doctor stoppage between rounds had Sonnen lasted another 27 seconds. “Shogun,” meanwhile, had lost a decision to Alexander Gustafsson the previous December that, while competitive, seemed to suggest the end of Rua’s days as a title contender. Nonetheless, he remained a Top 10 light heavyweight, with Sonnen not far behind as a fringe contender in the light heavyweight as well as middleweight divisions, and Rua was a modest -150 favorite.

The fight was a stunner in a way that belied the straight odds. While Sonnen striking for an immediate and practically effortless takedown was as expected, the fight would not return to the feet. After a thrilling series of scrambles and grappling exchanges, Rua attempted to stand, and “The American Gangster” seized a guillotine choke and pulled guard. The choke was fast and expertly applied, and “Shogun” had no option but to ask out of the fight at 4 minutes, 47 seconds of the first round, looking dejected as he did so. While it was not the first submission win of Sonnen’s career, it was the most conventional and absolutely the most impressive, considering the victim.

Sonnen would not notch another win in the Octagon. After a first-round starching by Rashad Evans, he jumped to Bellator MMA, where he flexed his oversize persona, picked up some oversize paychecks and even threw his hat into the ring for Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix before retiring last year.

Seven years from that night, “Shogun” remains in the UFC where—against all odds and in spite of his career having been declared dead over and over again—he is still winning fights and hanging on the outer fringes of the Top 15. He fought most recently last month on “Fight Island,” where he sent fellow Pride Fighting Championships legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira into retirement, prevailing by split decision to conclude their trilogy.