Everyone knew that the UFC 139 headliner between Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua would be a great fight, but nobody could have predicted that these two men would engage in one of the single greatest fights in mixed martial arts history.
It seems like a lofty statement to make, but it’s apt and just.
In the early goings of the bout, both Henderson and “Shogun” displayed the kind of power the two men wield in their punches as they were both dropped to the canvas with hard right hooks.
However, Henderson eventually was able to regain his senses and took over the bout there on, muscling Rua to the canvas on several occasions thanks to his Olympic level background as an amateur wrestler.
The difference, though, was the crippling power of Henderson, which Rua’s face bore the brunt of the blows, becoming bruised and battered early on in the bout.
Eventually, Henderson dropped the Brazilian once again to the canvas in the third round with another bungalow right hand. The Team Quest product swarmed all over Rua with devastating ground-and-pound punches and elbows in succession.
Rua seemed all but done before he rallied back with a submission attempt soon after, though it only proved as a means to an end in attempting to survive the early assault.
However, the Chute Boxe product would later reassert himself in the bout when he had just a little bit more gusto than the 41-year-old, taking down the Olympian on several occasions, mounting him and threatening with several submission attempts.
In the end, Henderson’s early work was the deciding factor, despite Rua having perhaps the most dominant of all rounds in the fifth and final stanza, when the jiu-jitsu black belt rode top position over Henderson for the nearly the entire five minutes.
It was the kind of bout that everybody wants to see but one that no one really expects, which made it all the more memorable.
Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 139. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the November 19 fight card, including results and post-fight analysis.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com