Dan “Hendo” Henderson showed that he can stand and trade with any fighter in the world at UFC 139 last night. His fight with Shogun Rua may go down as one of the greatest fights in UFC history, if not MMA history.Hendo is relentless inside …
Dan “Hendo” Henderson showed that he can stand and trade with any fighter in the world at UFC 139 last night. His fight with Shogun Rua may go down as one of the greatest fights in UFC history, if not MMA history.
Hendo is relentless inside the cage and for that reason is a huge fan favorite. He may look like a hockey player, but he fights like a true warrior. Dan Henderson looked a little bit gassed in the 4th and 5th rounds last night, but nobody wanted to see that fight end.
Dan Henderson seems to have assured himself a shot at gold with the win last night. Many questions, however, still remain about the 41-year-old fighter.
Mauricio Rua engaged fellow Pride vet Dan Henderson in a memorable battle last night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.Coming off of an impressive first round knockout victory over former champion Forrest Griffin, Rua would likely reenter title contention…
Mauricio Rua engaged fellow Pride vet Dan Henderson in a memorable battle last night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
Coming off of an impressive first round knockout victory over former champion Forrest Griffin, Rua would likely reenter title contention with another impressive outing against Henderson, though the Brazilian ultimately came up short in a close and contentious bout.
Though he was declared the loser, Rua has gained a lot of steam following the legendary battle with Henderson and the Chute Boxe product can capitalize on that momentum by making his way back to the Octagon sooner rather than later.
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 l…
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.
I’m willing to bet that more than a few sports writers have pointed out that four years ago, Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would have been just as worthy of main event status as it was last night at UFC 139. That four years later, we’re still willing to pay to watch guys like Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber, Stephan Bonnar and Miguel Torres. That last night’s event appropriately enough took place in Strikeforce’s old stomping grounds in San Jose. For that matter, I’m pretty sure you heard all of that stuff at some point from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan last night.
I tried to avoid those clichéd observations, but they’re too appropriate to ignore. As fans of mixed martial arts, we’ve been waiting at least four years for a fight between Pride legends Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to come together. Yet for as long as we’ve wanted to see this fight, what we were given last night was worth every second of the wait.
I’m willing to bet that more than a few sports writers have pointed out that four years ago, Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua would have been just as worthy of main event status as it was last night at UFC 139. That four years later, we’re still willing to pay to watch guys like Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber, Stephan Bonnar and Miguel Torres. That last night’s event appropriately enough took place in Strikeforce’s old stomping grounds in San Jose. For that matter, I’m pretty sure you heard all of that stuff at some point from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan last night.
I tried to avoid those clichéd observations, but they’re too appropriate to ignore. As fans of mixed martial arts, we’ve been waiting at least four years for a fight between Pride legends Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to come together. Yet for as long as we’ve wanted to see this fight, what we were given last night was worth every second of the wait.
If you didn’t get to see it, please accept my condolences. There is no way to adequately sum up the five round, back and forth battle between Henderson and Shogun without watching the fight. In the end, Dan Henderson triumphantly returned to the UFC with a hard fought unanimous decision victory over Shogun that demonstrated why five round non-title main events could not have come at a better time.
The only thing left to say about last night’s main event is that Josh Rosenthal deserves much respect for allowing the fight to continue. There were multiple points- especially in the third round- where a lesser referee would have stopped the fight. Being a referee in MMA is a lot like being a punter in football: No one knows who you are until you mess up. Thankfully, Josh Rosenthal called the bout well, and fans were treated to what Dana White is calling one of the top three fights of all time. The $70k that both men took home for Fight of the Night was just the icing on the cake.
The evening’s co-main event got off to a depressing start, with “The Axe Murderer” getting caught early in the first round, and then appearing gunshy against Cung Le’s unorthodox attack. Yet as the fight went on, Silva managed to find his rhythm against Le, and began to push the pace against the former Strikeforce middleweight champion.
I’ll say this much about the “controversial” stoppage: You’re right, perhaps Cung Le was attempting to take down Wanderlei Silva. But after Le took multiple knees directly to his head, got dropped by a punch and then ate hammerfists from The Axe Murderer, can you really blame anyone who thought the whole scene looked more “clinging onto Wanderlei’s leg for dear life” than “in total control and attempting a takedown”? If you answered yes to that hypothetical question, take a good look at Cung Le moments after the stoppage. Let what you’re seeing really sink in.
For the record, Wanderlei Silva and Cung Le were also both awarded $70k for FOTN honors. It’s strange to see this fight on the same level as Henderson vs. Shogun. But when you arguably have the best fight in the history of the sport on the card, perhaps it’s best to give out two FOTN bonuses.
If Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowels took place back in 2007, odds are it would have looked almost identical to the fight we saw from them last night. Brian Bowels managed to tag Faber with some heavy shots, but couldn’t put together a significant offense against the former WEC featherweight champion. Once Faber dropped Bowles in the second round, the fight over, as Urijah utilized some brutal elbows en route to a fight finishing guillotine choke. The victory earns Urijah Faber the $70K Submission of the Night bonus.
Also of note, Martin Kampmann nearly fell victim to a controversial decision again last night. Despite dominating Rick Story, Kampmann still lost the fight on one of the judge’s scorecards, earning him a split-decision victory over Story. If Wikipedia is to be trusted, the decision was the result of a judges error and the fight has since been ruled a unanimous decision victory for Kampmann. Stephan Bonnar made it three straight victories last night with an impressive unanimous decision victory over Kyle Kingsbury. Bonnar completely neutralized Kingsbury’s attack with his wrestling. After the fight, “The American Psycho” did two things that pretty much nobody expected: He apologized to Josh Koscheck and called out “Rampage” Jackson. Furthermore, the $70k Knockout of the Night bonus went to Michael McDonald for his first round knockout against UFC newcomer Alex Soto. McDonald improves to 14-1 overall, as well as 3-0 in the UFC.
Full Results:
MAIN CARD:
Dan Henderson def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Wanderlei Silva def. Cung Le via knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 4:49
Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:27
Martin Kampmann def. Rick Story via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Stephan Bonnar def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Ryan Bader def. Jason Brilz via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:17
Michael McDonald def. Alex Soto via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:56
Chris Weidman def. Tom Lawlor via technical submission (D’arce choke) – Round 1, 2:07
Gleison Tibau def. Rafael dos Anjos via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Miguel Torres def. Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:42
Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:52
Last night’s UFC 139 was one of the most exciting and stacked fight cards in recent memory.In the main event of the evening, former Pride champions and MMA legends Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson battled it out in one of the craziest fights to …
Last night’s UFC 139 was one of the most exciting and stacked fight cards in recent memory.
In the main event of the evening, former Pride champions and MMA legends Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson battled it out in one of the craziest fights to occur this year.
For mixed martial arts fans, this war, luckily, turned out to be a five-round affair despite not being a championship fight. UFC president Dana White had recently implemented the new strategy at the last numbered event, UFC 138, when Chris Leben and Mark Munoz faced each other across the pond.
Some fans were weary of the change in the format, citing its ability to take away importance from title fight main events as well as the possibility of adding two extra rounds to potential “boring” matchups.
In both cases, last night’s war did not fall under either category. In fact, the five rounds between Rua and Henderson turned out to be nothing less than pure excitement as both legends poured their hearts out in what some are calling a candidate for Fight of the Year.
The bout turned out to be a back-and-forth battle with both former champions taking the upper hand at various points in the fight.
Henderson, the former Strikeforce and two-divisional Pride champion, came out quickly and battered former UFC champion Rua, immediately bloodying him in the opening round.
Not going down without a fight, Rua came back with a vengeance at various points in the fight, buckling Henderson on more than one occasion as well as threatening with his trademarked leg locks in the middle of the fight.
Henderson clearly won the opening three rounds while the valiant effort by Rua nearly won him the fight as the the battle waned.
What was evident on both sides was the pure exhaustion shown by both former champions. If there is any criticism to be had of holding these five-round, non-title fights, is that these warriors just plainly get tired.
But as professionals, former champions, as well as being former Pride stars, both Henderson and Rua are no strangers to drawn-out wars which, in this case, only served as more enjoyment for the fans.
It is impossible to tell whether future bouts will gain the same level of excitement from having an extra two rounds, but if this fight is any indication, it certainly cannot have a negative effect on a fight.
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.
After UFC 139’s main event between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua that has already been hailed as an instant classic, one has to ask if maybe a rematch is the best thing for all parties involved.While everybody can agree that it was a great fight, the de…
After UFC 139‘s main event between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua that has already been hailed as an instant classic, one has to ask if maybe a rematch is the best thing for all parties involved.
While everybody can agree that it was a great fight, the decision will probably be disputed for a long time. Dan Henderson got the nod on all the scorecards of all three official judges at ringside, but the outcome was far from clear in the minds of so many fans and observers.
Many fans felt that Rua deserved at least a 10-8 final round that would have resulted in a draw for his stirring comeback effort. UFC President Dana White echoed that sentiment saying that he had the fight as a 47-47 draw.
Whatever your opinion on the actual scoring of the fight, I’m sure we can all agree that another five rounds of that wouldn’t hurt. In fact, another five rounds of that would be pretty awesome.
But is there a better alternative for either fighter or the UFC?
Dan Henderson appears to be very close to a title shot against either Anderson Silva or Jon Jones, but both champions already have more interesting challengers lined up with Chael Sonnen at middleweight and both Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans at light-heavyweight.
If Henderson waits for a title shot he will presumably have to wait around at least seven or eight months, which is a long time for a 40-year-old.
Outside of a title fight, there isn’t really any other super-interesting angle for Henderson other than Rua. Fights against Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin might be intriguing, but with both coming off one-sided losses, now isn’t the best time.
Fights with up-and-comers like Mo Lawal, Gegard Mousasi and Phil Davis could be competitive, but none of them would provide a particularly marketable angle for the UFC.
The same scenarios apply for Rua. To me, there are only two fights that interest me for Rua, and they are rematches against Quinton Jackson and Dan Henderson.
Given that the Henderson fight was far more competitive than Shogun vs. Jackson, I’ll take the Henderson rematch.
The other thing that I’d say is that the UFC would be wise to strike when the iron is hot.
When Quinton Jackson first fought Forrest Griffin, people were extremely excited about a rematch, but it never came together. If they fought now, much of the intrigue surrounding that belt has disappeared, especially considering how Griffin seems a shell of his former self.
Furthermore, at 40 years old, if Dan Henderson doesn’t have this rematch now, he probably never will.
Yes, he’d be risking his title shot, but it’s a risk well worth taking. For everybody involved.
Everyone knew that the 