SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mauricio “Shogun” Rua began bleeding in the first minute of his fight with Dan Henderson at UFC 139. He never really stopped, actually, just like he never quit coming back from one near-knockout after another. That turned out to be a trait he and Henderson had in common during their seesaw main event bout.
The scorecards might have registered a unanimous decision win for Hendo once all five rounds were in the books, but the larger result was a fight that instantly earned a spot among the greatest bouts of all time.
“That’s without a doubt one of the top three best fights ever in MMA,” UFC president Dana White said afterward, adding “that was like our [Muhammad] Ali-[Joe] Frazier III. It was unbelievable.”
And truly, it was. This time, at least, that’s not just fight promoter hyperbole from White.
It was a fight that, from the very beginning, seemed unlikely to last a round, let alone five. Henderson dropped Rua early in the first frame with his vaunted right hand. Rua appeared to barely survive that first assault, but he managed to turn the tables on Henderson before the end of the round, coming back in the final two minutes to give the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ a taste of his own medicine with a punch combo that left Henderson struggling for survival.
So it went for the next three rounds. Henderson started each round strong, dropping Rua with one haymaker after another, only to have the Brazilian rise up and, blinking through the blood, mount a comeback in the second half of each round.
In the third, Rua seemed close to being stopped after Henderson knocked him down and then bounced his head off the mat with successive right hands. In fact, had referee Josh Rosenthal stepped in the wave it off there, it’s unlikely that too many fight fans could have faulted him for it. But Rosenthal, who by that point had seen Rua battle back from one brain-rattling blow after another, gave the former UFC and Pride champion the benefit of the doubt, and it proved to be the right call.
By the fourth, Rua was all the way back in it, and appeared to have Henderson out on his feet at one point. By the fifth, he was camped out in full mount, raining down blows on Hendo as the 41-year-old Californian moved just enough to show he was still in it, and apparently enough to avoid a 10-8 round, which would have rendered the bout a draw.
When the judges’ scorecards were read after a full 25 minutes of this brutal back-and-forth, Henderson could barely stand and Rua could barely see. All three judges gave Henderson the first three rounds and Rua the final two, resulting in a 48-47 score across the board for Hendo.
Not surprisingly, neither the winner nor the loser made it to the post-fight press conference. Both had an appointment at the hospital instead, but not before Henderson tweeted a picture of himself laid out on the locker room floor, requesting a title shot for his next fight.
“That guy could fight at [1]85 [pounds] or 205 [pounds] for the title,” White concurred. “No doubt about it. I don’t disagree.”
In a video interview inside his locker room after the fight, Henderson said he thought the fight was “one or two shots away from being finished” at one point, but Rua had “tried to Rocky Balboa me, wore me out with his head.”
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As often as the comparison gets tossed around in combat sports, this was one fight that was not at all unlike a Rocky movie. The knockdowns, the comebacks, the almost unreasonable amount of physical damage sustained by each fighter — if it was a film, it might have stretched the limits of believability.
This one was all real, and yet difficult to believe. Even both sets of cornermen, as they made their way out of the cage, seemed stunned and exhausted. Fans at cageside lingered, some with hands on their heads, still trying to comprehend what they’d just witnessed.
Was it the greatest MMA fight of all time, or simply one of the greatest? Was it number one, or just top three? That’s an argument that will stretch on well past Saturday night, but after what Rua and Henderson accomplished together, there’s simply no way you can have the conversation without them.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mauricio “Shogun” Rua began bleeding in the first minute of his fight with Dan Henderson at UFC 139. He never really stopped, actually, just like he never quit coming back from one near-knockout after another. That turned out to be a trait he and Henderson had in common during their seesaw main event bout.
The scorecards might have registered a unanimous decision win for Hendo once all five rounds were in the books, but the larger result was a fight that instantly earned a spot among the greatest bouts of all time.
“That’s without a doubt one of the top three best fights ever in MMA,” UFC president Dana White said afterward, adding “that was like our [Muhammad] Ali-[Joe] Frazier III. It was unbelievable.”
And truly, it was. This time, at least, that’s not just fight promoter hyperbole from White.
It was a fight that, from the very beginning, seemed unlikely to last a round, let alone five. Henderson dropped Rua early in the first frame with his vaunted right hand. Rua appeared to barely survive that first assault, but he managed to turn the tables on Henderson before the end of the round, coming back in the final two minutes to give the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ a taste of his own medicine with a punch combo that left Henderson struggling for survival.
So it went for the next three rounds. Henderson started each round strong, dropping Rua with one haymaker after another, only to have the Brazilian rise up and, blinking through the blood, mount a comeback in the second half of each round.
In the third, Rua seemed close to being stopped after Henderson knocked him down and then bounced his head off the mat with successive right hands. In fact, had referee Josh Rosenthal stepped in the wave it off there, it’s unlikely that too many fight fans could have faulted him for it. But Rosenthal, who by that point had seen Rua battle back from one brain-rattling blow after another, gave the former UFC and Pride champion the benefit of the doubt, and it proved to be the right call.
By the fourth, Rua was all the way back in it, and appeared to have Henderson out on his feet at one point. By the fifth, he was camped out in full mount, raining down blows on Hendo as the 41-year-old Californian moved just enough to show he was still in it, and apparently enough to avoid a 10-8 round, which would have rendered the bout a draw.
When the judges’ scorecards were read after a full 25 minutes of this brutal back-and-forth, Henderson could barely stand and Rua could barely see. All three judges gave Henderson the first three rounds and Rua the final two, resulting in a 48-47 score across the board for Hendo.
Not surprisingly, neither the winner nor the loser made it to the post-fight press conference. Both had an appointment at the hospital instead, but not before Henderson tweeted a picture of himself laid out on the locker room floor, requesting a title shot for his next fight.
“That guy could fight at [1]85 [pounds] or 205 [pounds] for the title,” White concurred. “No doubt about it. I don’t disagree.”
In a video interview inside his locker room after the fight, Henderson said he thought the fight was “one or two shots away from being finished” at one point, but Rua had “tried to Rocky Balboa me, wore me out with his head.”
%VIRTUAL-Gallery-139928%
As often as the comparison gets tossed around in combat sports, this was one fight that was not at all unlike a Rocky movie. The knockdowns, the comebacks, the almost unreasonable amount of physical damage sustained by each fighter — if it was a film, it might have stretched the limits of believability.
This one was all real, and yet difficult to believe. Even both sets of cornermen, as they made their way out of the cage, seemed stunned and exhausted. Fans at cageside lingered, some with hands on their heads, still trying to comprehend what they’d just witnessed.
Was it the greatest MMA fight of all time, or simply one of the greatest? Was it number one, or just top three? That’s an argument that will stretch on well past Saturday night, but after what Rua and Henderson accomplished together, there’s simply no way you can have the conversation without them.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson, the main event of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
In this light heavyweight bout, Henderson (28-8) makes his return to the UFC after a two-year stint with Strikeforce. Henderson has won his last three fights, most recently a TKO over Fedor Emelianenko in July. Rua (20-5) lost his UFC belt in March to Jon Jones and then bounced back with a KO over Forrest Griffin in August.
Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal brings them to the center and they tough gloves to start us off. Rua tosses out a couple kicks and Hendo wastes no time blasting him with a big right hand just as Rua is reaching for a takedown. Rua is hurt. Hendo thinks about a guillotine, then releases it and fires away with a punch combo as Rua covers up. We’re barely a minute in and Rua is bleeding everywhere. Hendo drops him to the mat and just walks away rather than following into his guard. Good knee from Rua, but Henderson is unfazed. Rua tries for a takedown, but that’s going to be tough against Henderson. Rua fires off a big punch and now Hendo is down. He reaches for a single-leg as Rua hamerfists the side of his head, and it buys him enough time to recover. Hendo is backing away now, clearly wary of Rua’s power. They end the round in the clinch, both men grabbing some air. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Henderson.
Round 2:
Hendo starts the round with a little more respect for Rua’s power, looking for a takedown when the Brazilian moves in too close. They get stuck in a clinch against the fence, but it’s only temporary. Back in the center, Hendo lands a good right that sends Rua backwards, then slams him with some body shots when he covers up. They’re slugging it out in the center now, with both man getting his licks in. Hendo presses Rua against the fence and tries to sap some of his strength in close. Rua’s good and bloodied up, breathing out of his mouth. Rosenthal moves in to separate them, and Hendo has some words for the ref. Both men are looking a little worn, but Hendo manages one last good uppercut before the round ends. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Henderson.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson, the main event of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
In this light heavyweight bout, Henderson (28-8) makes his return to the UFC after a two-year stint with Strikeforce. Henderson has won his last three fights, most recently a TKO over Fedor Emelianenko in July. Rua (20-5) lost his UFC belt in March to Jon Jones and then bounced back with a KO over Forrest Griffin in August.
Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal brings them to the center and they tough gloves to start us off. Rua tosses out a couple kicks and Hendo wastes no time blasting him with a big right hand just as Rua is reaching for a takedown. Rua is hurt. Hendo thinks about a guillotine, then releases it and fires away with a punch combo as Rua covers up. We’re barely a minute in and Rua is bleeding everywhere. Hendo drops him to the mat and just walks away rather than following into his guard. Good knee from Rua, but Henderson is unfazed. Rua tries for a takedown, but that’s going to be tough against Henderson. Rua fires off a big punch and now Hendo is down. He reaches for a single-leg as Rua hamerfists the side of his head, and it buys him enough time to recover. Hendo is backing away now, clearly wary of Rua’s power. They end the round in the clinch, both men grabbing some air. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Henderson.
Round 2:
Hendo starts the round with a little more respect for Rua’s power, looking for a takedown when the Brazilian moves in too close. They get stuck in a clinch against the fence, but it’s only temporary. Back in the center, Hendo lands a good right that sends Rua backwards, then slams him with some body shots when he covers up. They’re slugging it out in the center now, with both man getting his licks in. Hendo presses Rua against the fence and tries to sap some of his strength in close. Rua’s good and bloodied up, breathing out of his mouth. Rosenthal moves in to separate them, and Hendo has some words for the ref. Both men are looking a little worn, but Hendo manages one last good uppercut before the round ends. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Henderson.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann, a welterweight bout on tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
Story (13-4) had his six-fight UFC win streak snapped by Charlie Brenneman in June. Kampmann (17-5) is coming off back-to-back losses against Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann, a welterweight bout on tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
Story (13-4) had his six-fight UFC win streak snapped by Charlie Brenneman in June. Kampmann (17-5) is coming off back-to-back losses against Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Michael McDonald vs. Alex Soto, a bantamweight bout on Spike TV in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
McDonald (13-1) won both his UFC fights this year, outpointing Edwin Figueroa and Chris Cariaso. Soto (6-0-1), making his UFC debut, fought to a draw at DEEP 54 in June.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Michael McDonald vs. Alex Soto, a bantamweight bout on Spike TV in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
McDonald (13-1) won both his UFC fights this year, outpointing Edwin Figueroa and Chris Cariaso. Soto (6-0-1), making his UFC debut, fought to a draw at DEEP 54 in June.
Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal gives the signal and we’re underway. Pace looks to land a looping hook when Torres comes in, and he finally sticks it after several attempts. “You got his attention, Nick,” says his corner. Torres jabs him back and lands a nice straight right. Leg kick by Torres buckles Pace. Torres lands the straight right again, and Pace comes in swinging before looking for the takedown. Torres defends well with his back on the fence, working short elbows and punches. Pace seems to be holding and hoping here. Torres uses a kimura to flip Pace onto his back, then they scramble up. Pace is bleeding out of his mouth. They trade right hands in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Torres.
Seth Baczynski vs. Matt Brown
Round 1: Brown paws his way forward behind a jab and Baczynski comes over the top with a right. That gave him something to think about. Baczynski looks for a takedown, but settles for a clinch against the fence. Nice elbow by Baczynski in close. Baczynski steps back and launches a punch combo, but Brown does a pretty decent job of bobbing and weaving. Baczynski closes the distance again and scoops Brown up for a takedown. Baczynski looks to strike from the top, but Brown pulls off a nifty little sweep and gets to his feet. He lets Baczynski up shortly thereafter, and they exchange blows on the feet with Baczynski landing a pretty left hook counter before looking for the clinch again. Knee to the body by Baczynski, and Brown makes the ‘that was my testicles’ face. The ref encourages Baczynski to not do that anymore. They end the round with Baczynski tentatively looking for a standing guillotine. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Baczynski.
Round 2: Brown looks to start faster in the second frame. He gets busy with strikes right off the bat, then shoots and secures a takedown of his own. Baczynski grabs for a guillotine on the way down, and Brown seems perhaps not as concerned with defending against it as he should be. Baczynski adjusts and squeezes with everything he’s got, and Brown is forced to tap.
Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:42 of round two
Shamar Bailey vs. Danny Castillo
Round 1: Castillo goes to work with kicks to the legs and body early, but promptly slips and ends up on his butt. Bailey rushes in and gets himself taken down, though he’s back up quickly. Castillo lifts him up and slams him back down, then does it again when Bailey rises again a few seconds later. Castillo working from half-guard, but he’s hesitant to give Bailey the space to escape and so his striking from the top is limited. Castillo sits back and gets a few consecutive blows in. The crowd digs it, sparse though it is this early on. He pounds away at Bailey with hammer fists, and Bailey seems to be losing steam. Castill takes mount briefly, but can’t stay there. Castillo goes back to the hammer fists from half-guard and Bailey seems to be folding up. Less than ten seconds left in the round, but Bailey is just covering up and hoping to be saved by the bell. The ref isn’t going to let him do that for long, and this one is over.
Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) at 4:52 of round one
In his post-fight interview, Castillo tells Joe Rogan he felt “disrespected” by Bailey showing up at 138 for Friday’s weigh-ins. Bailey paid for that oversight with 20 percent of his purse, and now he has a loss on top of it.
Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal gives the signal and we’re underway. Pace looks to land a looping hook when Torres comes in, and he finally sticks it after several attempts. “You got his attention, Nick,” says his corner. Torres jabs him back and lands a nice straight right. Leg kick by Torres buckles Pace. Torres lands the straight right again, and Pace comes in swinging before looking for the takedown. Torres defends well with his back on the fence, working short elbows and punches. Pace seems to be holding and hoping here. Torres uses a kimura to flip Pace onto his back, then they scramble up. Pace is bleeding out of his mouth. They trade right hands in the final seconds of the round. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Torres.
Seth Baczynski vs. Matt Brown
Round 1: Brown paws his way forward behind a jab and Baczynski comes over the top with a right. That gave him something to think about. Baczynski looks for a takedown, but settles for a clinch against the fence. Nice elbow by Baczynski in close. Baczynski steps back and launches a punch combo, but Brown does a pretty decent job of bobbing and weaving. Baczynski closes the distance again and scoops Brown up for a takedown. Baczynski looks to strike from the top, but Brown pulls off a nifty little sweep and gets to his feet. He lets Baczynski up shortly thereafter, and they exchange blows on the feet with Baczynski landing a pretty left hook counter before looking for the clinch again. Knee to the body by Baczynski, and Brown makes the ‘that was my testicles’ face. The ref encourages Baczynski to not do that anymore. They end the round with Baczynski tentatively looking for a standing guillotine. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Baczynski.
Round 2: Brown looks to start faster in the second frame. He gets busy with strikes right off the bat, then shoots and secures a takedown of his own. Baczynski grabs for a guillotine on the way down, and Brown seems perhaps not as concerned with defending against it as he should be. Baczynski adjusts and squeezes with everything he’s got, and Brown is forced to tap.
Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:42 of round two
Shamar Bailey vs. Danny Castillo
Round 1: Castillo goes to work with kicks to the legs and body early, but promptly slips and ends up on his butt. Bailey rushes in and gets himself taken down, though he’s back up quickly. Castillo lifts him up and slams him back down, then does it again when Bailey rises again a few seconds later. Castillo working from half-guard, but he’s hesitant to give Bailey the space to escape and so his striking from the top is limited. Castillo sits back and gets a few consecutive blows in. The crowd digs it, sparse though it is this early on. He pounds away at Bailey with hammer fists, and Bailey seems to be losing steam. Castill takes mount briefly, but can’t stay there. Castillo goes back to the hammer fists from half-guard and Bailey seems to be folding up. Less than ten seconds left in the round, but Bailey is just covering up and hoping to be saved by the bell. The ref isn’t going to let him do that for long, and this one is over.
Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) at 4:52 of round one
In his post-fight interview, Castillo tells Joe Rogan he felt “disrespected” by Bailey showing up at 138 for Friday’s weigh-ins. Bailey paid for that oversight with 20 percent of his purse, and now he has a loss on top of it.
Filed under: UFCThe peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked Brendan Schaub with my UFC 137 predictions, though he didn’t exactly help…
The peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked Brendan Schaub with my UFC 137 predictions, though he didn’t exactly help himself out by refusing to pick a winner in the Roy Nelson-Cro Cop fight.
This time around, I visited one of UFC 139‘s prelim fighters to get his thoughts on his colleagues on the main card. Dear readers, I give you former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, who now has two fights on his hands for Saturday night. And unlike Nick Pace, my weight is right where it’s supposed to be.
Torres: Rua via KO. “I love Henderson, love his style, I’ve seen a lot of his fights like. But I’ve been watching Shogun since the Pride days. Every time somebody kicks I scream because of him. So I have to go with Shogun. Somebody’s getting knocked out.” Fowlkes: Henderson via KO. If he gets past the first round without being swarmed by Rua, I think he makes it a nasty, messy fight, wearing Rua down until he can put him away with that big right hand of his.
Torres: Le via KO. “I love Wanderlei, too. He’s another one of those guys I’ve watched for a long time. My heart says Wanderlei, but my mind says Cung Le. Cung Le’s knocked out a lot of his opponents, and Wanderlei’s been knocked out a lot lately. But I hope I’m wrong.” Fowlkes: Le via KO. Silva’s power always gives him a decent chance in any fight, but it’s true, his chin ain’t what it used to be. Le can use those kicks to keep him at a distance and look for opening, and Silva probably won’t be able to get close enough to do much damage.
Torres: Faber via decision. “Bowles has broken his hand two or three times already, so it depends how healthy his hand is, and his mind. I know he hits hard, but if he gets a punch in and hurts his hand, it will kill his confidence. So I think Urijah takes it.” Fowlkes: Faber via decision. I still think that, the odds being what they are, Bowles isn’t a bad underdog pick, but Faber’s a tough match-up for anybody in the bantamweight division. He has an impressive ability to figure an opponent out over the course of a fight, and he only gets stronger in the later rounds.
Torres: Bonnar via decision. “I’m going with Stephan. Stephan’s my boy, so I can’t go against him. He could be fighting Brock [Lesnar], and I’m still going to pick Stephan. Stephan’s a grinder, though. He’ll grind him out.” Fowlkes: Kingsbury via decision. I have no such loyalty to Mr. Bonnar, and I think Kingsbury is underrated these days. He’s gotten a lot better in a very short time, and he could surprise a few people here, Miguel included.
Torres: Kampmann via TKO. “That’s a close one, but I like Kampmann. I like his style. He’s tough, and I think he takes it. That’s a fight where they’re going to go at it, and somebody’s getting finished.” Fowlkes: Kampmann via decision. I don’t know if I can see this one ending inside the distance, and I agree that it’ll be a tight one, but I think Kampmann is a just a little bit better and a tad more well-rounded. In a fight this close, that could be all it takes.
Torres picks: Rua, Le, Faber, Bonnar, Kampmann Fowlkes picks: Henderson, Le, Faber, Kingsbury, Kampmann
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mauricio “Shogun” Rua began bleeding in the first minute of his fight with Dan Henderson at UFC 139. He never really stopped, actually, just like he never quit coming back from one near-knockout after another. That turned out to be a trait he and Henderson had in common during their seesaw main event bout. 
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the 
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the 
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the 
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The peculiarities of the UFC’s recent schedule have kept the Fighter vs. Writer series on a bit of a hiatus, but now we’re back. In the last installment, I smoked