As he prepares Dan Henderson for his upcoming bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139, boxing coach Gustavo Pugliese said he is confident that the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion will earn a knockout victory over Rua, who is renowned for his outstanding chin.
Pugliese spoke with TATAME.com and discussed the upcoming matchup between Henderson and Rua. While analyzing the Brazilian’s skills, Pugliese said his effective striking style does show signs of weakness.
“On the tapes of Shogun’s last fights I noticed some flaws on his Boxing game,” Pugliese said.
“He only moves forward and tries to find the right angle ti punch his opponents. Since he’s not much technical, he walks a lot. Fighting a guy like Henderson, who knows when to counterattack, it’ll be dangerous for Shogun.”
Henderson is coming into the UFC after arguably putting on one of the most impressive career performances following his win over Fedor Emelianenko earlier this year. The win was Henderson’s third knockout in his last four bouts.
It allowed Henderson to enter his third stint with the UFC, setting up a bout with potential title implications surrounding it.
While he is aware of Rua’s knockout ability, Pugliese said he will have Henderson prepared for the five-round bout and look to neutralize his strengths and become more versatile with his offense.
“It ain’t no secret the way Henderson finishes his fights, so my job, along with (Daniel) Woirin, will be to prepare him correctly to use his strongest weapon, his right hand,” he said.
“Obviously, Dan will use his Wrestling when on the clinch, it’ll be important to use different weapons to get Shogun tired.”
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