Two of MMA’s most dangerous strikers will get their chance to meet in what could be a title eliminator match. According to MMA Weekly.com, Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 139. Henderson, St…
Two of MMA’s most dangerous strikers will get their chance to meet in what could be a title eliminator match.
According to MMA Weekly.com, Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 139.
Henderson, Strikeforce’s light heavyweight champion, will be making his second return to the UFC after defeating Fedor Emelianenko back in July.
A win for either man should put him in title contention.
Henderson has been in this position before. After winning both the Pride middleweight (205lbs) and welterweight (183lbs) titles, Henderson faced off against UFC champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Anderson Silva to unify their titles.
Henderson came up short in both bouts, but went on to win three straight, including a memorable knockout victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 100.
Like Henderson, Rua is a former Pride champion, winning the Pride middleweight tournament in 2005.
Since entering the UFC, Rua has had his fair share of ups and downs.
Rua is 4-3 in the UFC, and has nearly traded wins and losses.
All four of Rua’s wins are by KO, including his UFC light heavyweight championship fight again Lyoto Machida.
While a win for either man should put them in the mix.
Every man Rua has defeated in the UFC is a former champion while Henderson was Strikeforce’s most recent light heavyweight champion.
With Rashad Evans in place to challenge the winner of Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson, the winner of Henderson vs. Rua should be next in line.
It looks like Dan Henderson is now “the former” Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.The Team Quest product has since re-signed with the UFC and will now be taking on fellow PRIDE veteran Mauricio “Shogun” Rua upon his return.MMAWeekly.com confirmed …
It looks like Dan Henderson is now “the former” Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.
The Team Quest product has since re-signed with the UFC and will now be taking on fellow PRIDE veteran Mauricio “Shogun” Rua upon his return.
MMAWeekly.com confirmed the bout with sources close to the match, which takes place at UFC 139 in San Jose, California on November 19 at the famed HP Pavilion.
Henderson has had a long drawn out history with the Las Vegas based organization. He twice challenged for titles within the promotion, coming up short against then champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and current middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, though the Californian had his moments.
He later signed a deal with Strikeforce, eventually earning the promotion’s 205-pound title after defeating Black House fighter Rafael “Feijao” with a third-round TKO. In his last outing, Henderson defeated former PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko in a heavyweight affair this July, starching “The Last Emperor” in a little over four-minutes.
As for Rua, he too is enjoying some success as of late. Last month in front of his fellow countryman in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, “Shogun” blitzed former champ Forrest Griffin in less than two-minutes, inside of the opening round, avenging a 2007 loss to The Ultimate Fighter season one winner. The victory helped ease the pain of a third-round TKO loss to Jon Jones (this past March, UFC 128), who now resides as the organization’s belt holder.
The winner of this PRIDE-esque throwback will likely serve as the next top contender to the light heavyweight title, which will be contested this Saturday as Jones meets the aforementioned Jackson at UFC 135 in Denver, Colorado.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones may be the future of MMA, but he could be in for a rude awakening when he meets Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135.Jackson, a former UFC champion, has gone to great lengths in his preparation to defeat Jones a…
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones may be the future of MMA, but he could be in for a rude awakening when he meets Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135.
Jackson, a former UFC champion, has gone to great lengths in his preparation to defeat Jones and recapture the world title.
Since entering the UFC, Jones’ path of destruction is well-documented. He has throttled opponents in every aspect conceivable without experiencing even a lick of danger.
At UFC 128, Jones became world champion after decimating top light heavyweight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who is widely considered as one of MMA’s all-time greats.
Now, he faces another legend in Jackson, the first man to unify the UFC and Pride titles.
While Rua is the more efficient Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai practitioner, Jackson’s game is more boxing and wrestling oriented. Jones has never faced a boxer with the stand-up prowess and devastating power of Jackson, who has put the lights out on a multitude of world-class names throughout his career.
As intriguing as the stand-up battle is, the most interesting aspect of this fight will be the wrestling.
Jones is likely the better grappler, but Jackson has proven to have the wrestling chops to outperform some of the best grapplers in the world. Takedowns can’t be telegraphed or rehearsed for Jones, who could eat a fight-ending uppercut or find his shot stuffed when he changes levels.
The factors that many people haven’t stopped to consider are the relative unknowns about Jones’ overall game. Can his cardio hold up for a five round fight? How good is his chin? How well does he deal with adversity?
Jackson is a tough and gritty veteran that can possibly bring out the answers to these questions.
We’ve seen Jackson go the distance on multiple occasions, including a couple of five-round championship bouts. Jones’ ability to work at a fierce pace for extended periods of time will be tested by the ever-aggressive Jackson.
The ability to take a punch can make or break an entire career. If you are skeptical, you can go ask Andrei Arlovski. From a technical perspective, Arlovski remains one of the best heavyweights in the world, but his inability to absorb punishment has put a damper on his career.
Jones’ tremendous boxing defense typically keeps him out of danger from full-on punches, but if given a chance on the feet, Jackson will eventually land. It’s going to tell a lot about Jones after seeing how he reacts to that first big shot.
Will he panic and get overzealous in working for a takedown? Would he struggle to recover if he gets dropped?
These are all legitimate questions heading into Saturday night’s bout.
We have never seen Jones have to deal with adversity in a fight. Every fight won’t resemble his championship bout with Rua. There will be times when Jones gets tired, hurt and things in general won’t go his way.
How is he going to react to these situations?
Despite being a world champion, Jones is still 24 years of age with only 14 fights to his name, which is a far cry from Jackson’s 40 bouts.
“Bones” will enter UFC 135 as the rightful favorite, but it would be ignorant to discount Jackson’s chances. It only takes one punch to change the course of a fight, and Jackson certainly has the power to deliver.
Win or lose, Jackson will be Jones’ toughest test at UFC 135.
The UFC light heavyweight championship was long been considered the organization’s most prestigious title and its corresponding division has always been the most heavily promoted. Thus, each fighter who captures the title is practically advertised as a…
The UFC light heavyweight championship was long been considered the organization’s most prestigious title and its corresponding division has always been the most heavily promoted. Thus, each fighter who captures the title is practically advertised as a living god.
But even amongst “immortals” there is inequality. Of all the light heavyweight champions in UFC history, some were far more accomplished than others.
Who were the most accomplished of all the UFC’s “legendary” (in quotes because the term is used far too loosely by the UFC and fans alike) light heavyweight champions? Read and find out! But be warned that the No. 1 pick may surprise you.
Apparently, Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s first-round drubbing of Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 was met with screams. But the cries in question weren’t coming from the sold-out crowd in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.”When [Griffin…
Apparently, Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s first-round drubbing of Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 was met with screams. But the cries in question weren’t coming from the sold-out crowd in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“When [Griffin] was laid out on his back, I heard him scream ‘stop! stop!,’ but I couldn’t stop hitting him,” Rua told RedeTV Esporte on Wednesday.
The win over Griffin helped Rua avenge a September 2007 loss and rebound from a recent TKO loss to current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Rua admits he didn’t want to take any chances with Griffin, who is known for his late-fight heroics. When he saw the opportunity to pounce, the Brazilian wasted no time putting an end to Griffin’s night.
“I managed to impose my strategy and my pace. Griffin is a top guy, always comes well-prepared to the fight with good conditioning,” said Rua. “I wanted to win badly. I trained so much and promised to myself that I would never come to perform in a fight 90 percent or 80 percent like previously. This is my focus today.”
A healthy and focused Rua is without a doubt one of the scariest 205-pound fighters on the planet.
Fans could see him back in action as early as December. There was interest from Rua’s camp in a potential bout against MMA legend Tito Ortiz, but it looks like “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” will instead face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140.
A rubber match with Lyoto Machida at UFC 141 seems like the most likely scenario.
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage will feature the light heavyweight championship bout between two of the division’s best fighters ever.We can argue until we’re blue in the face about where they rank exactly, but the bottom line is that these two …
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage will feature the light heavyweight championship bout between two of the division’s best fighters ever.
We can argue until we’re blue in the face about where they rank exactly, but the bottom line is that these two champions are extremely dangerous and should put on a great fight for the fans.
Jackson himself is a former UFC light heavyweight champion and many believe he is still at the top of his game. He has been in the right place at the right time to get the first shot at Jones’ championship after an injury put off Rashad Evans’ opportunity, but it is his own hard work and ability to “sell” himself to fans that has really given him this chance at Jones.
But is Rampage the man to beat Jones?
There are plenty of up-and-comers in the stacked light heavyweight division, but it may be one of the former champions who actually has the best chance of beating the current champion. There are a handful of former champions who currently sit within or right near the top-10 in the division, but their chances of becoming champion dwindles down each day as they get older.
So which former champion does have the best chance of winning the UFC light heavyweight championship in the future? Read on as we count down each of the 10 former champions and assess their chances of holding the title again.
Two of MMA’s most dangerous strikers will get their chance to meet in what could be a title eliminator match.