The long awaited UFC debut of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua now has a date: September 22nd. The 16-2 PRIDE standout will debut in the octagon at UFC 76 in Anaheim this fall. His opponent has not been announced.

Rua’s signing was confirmed earlier this year although speculation was rampant prior to the official announcement that he would eventually come to the UFC, the biggest question was when. His signing was confirmed just before UFC 71 and it was even speculated that he might debut on the weak UFC 72 card but the rumors didn’t pan out and his debut date wasn’t known until the fight was just confirmed yesterday for UFC 76.

“Shogun is in the midst of a 4-fight win streak with wins over Cyrille Diabate, Kevin Randleman, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Alistair Overeem. He has also won 12 of his last 13 fights. His single loss over the time span came due to a broken arm after Rua landed awkwardly on a takedown attempt by Mark Coleman early last year and the referee called an end to the fight.

For more on UFC 76 including a complete fight card check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Tags: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua