When it was learned that Dan Henderson re-signed with the UFC to face Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139, there was a nostalgic feeling among fans, who were left intrigued and satisfied at finally watching two former PRIDE veterans square off.
Henderson and Rua will now headline the main card—one that was left without a marketable main event after a heavyweight title bout featuring Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos was removed and rescheduled for UFC on Fox.
While Henderson’s trainer Daniel Woirin prepares him for the upcoming bout, he predicts it will be a tough bout for both competitors.
“It’s a great matchup, everyone wants to see it,” Woirin told TATAME.com. “It’ll be an aggressive fight.”
Woirin had got a glimpse of the Brazilian while he was in the corner of Forrest Griffin at UFC 134. Rua would go onto knockout the former champion just less than two minutes in the opening round.
Woirin said he didn’t have much time to analyze Rua’s skill while witnessing the bout, but he said Henderson will return with much more recognition than his previous tenure in the UFC.
“Shogun is excellent at Muay Thai, he has strong kicks…He’s a dangerous fighter and there’re reasons why he was champion in Pride and in UFC,” he said. “He’ll fight Dan Henderson on his return to UFC being really recognized and believing in himself a lot after knocking out Fedor (Emelianenko).”
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