Filed under: UFC, NewsDan Henderson, Maurico “Shogun” Rua, Cung Le and Wanderlei Silva were all awarded bonuses for the honor of Fight of the Night Saturday at UFC 139 in San Jose.
Rarely handed out to more than one fight, UFC president Dana White sai…
Rarely handed out to more than one fight, UFC president Dana White said he had no choice but to call the two co-headlining bouts the Fight of the Night at UFC 139. Each post-fight bonus winner received an extra $70,000.
Henderson (29-8) won a five-round battle for the ages, edging out Rua (20-6) on scores of 48-47 across the board.
In middleweight action between two dangerous strikers, Silva (34-11-1) fought back from a difficult first round to spoil Le (7-2)’s UFC debut with brutal knees and punches to bring on the referee stoppage in the second.
Michael McDonald (14-1) earned Knockout of the Night with an explosive first-round finish over Alex Soto (6-1-1). The 20-year-old bantamweight needed only 56 seconds to score his third UFC win.
Urijah Faber (26-5) took home Submission of the Night for his guillotine choke over Brian Bowles (10-2). With the win, Faber earns a rematch with bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.
The UFC’s debut at the HP Pavilion drew an attendance of 13,173 for a gate of $1.268 million, according to White.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson, the main event of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
In this light heavyweight bout, Henderson (28-8) makes his return to the UFC after a two-year stint with Strikeforce. Henderson has won his last three fights, most recently a TKO over Fedor Emelianenko in July. Rua (20-5) lost his UFC belt in March to Jon Jones and then bounced back with a KO over Forrest Griffin in August.
Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal brings them to the center and they tough gloves to start us off. Rua tosses out a couple kicks and Hendo wastes no time blasting him with a big right hand just as Rua is reaching for a takedown. Rua is hurt. Hendo thinks about a guillotine, then releases it and fires away with a punch combo as Rua covers up. We’re barely a minute in and Rua is bleeding everywhere. Hendo drops him to the mat and just walks away rather than following into his guard. Good knee from Rua, but Henderson is unfazed. Rua tries for a takedown, but that’s going to be tough against Henderson. Rua fires off a big punch and now Hendo is down. He reaches for a single-leg as Rua hamerfists the side of his head, and it buys him enough time to recover. Hendo is backing away now, clearly wary of Rua’s power. They end the round in the clinch, both men grabbing some air. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Henderson.
Round 2:
Hendo starts the round with a little more respect for Rua’s power, looking for a takedown when the Brazilian moves in too close. They get stuck in a clinch against the fence, but it’s only temporary. Back in the center, Hendo lands a good right that sends Rua backwards, then slams him with some body shots when he covers up. They’re slugging it out in the center now, with both man getting his licks in. Hendo presses Rua against the fence and tries to sap some of his strength in close. Rua’s good and bloodied up, breathing out of his mouth. Rosenthal moves in to separate them, and Hendo has some words for the ref. Both men are looking a little worn, but Hendo manages one last good uppercut before the round ends. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Henderson.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — This is the UFC 139 live blog for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson, the main event of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the HP Pavilion.
In this light heavyweight bout, Henderson (28-8) makes his return to the UFC after a two-year stint with Strikeforce. Henderson has won his last three fights, most recently a TKO over Fedor Emelianenko in July. Rua (20-5) lost his UFC belt in March to Jon Jones and then bounced back with a KO over Forrest Griffin in August.
Round 1: Referee Josh Rosenthal brings them to the center and they tough gloves to start us off. Rua tosses out a couple kicks and Hendo wastes no time blasting him with a big right hand just as Rua is reaching for a takedown. Rua is hurt. Hendo thinks about a guillotine, then releases it and fires away with a punch combo as Rua covers up. We’re barely a minute in and Rua is bleeding everywhere. Hendo drops him to the mat and just walks away rather than following into his guard. Good knee from Rua, but Henderson is unfazed. Rua tries for a takedown, but that’s going to be tough against Henderson. Rua fires off a big punch and now Hendo is down. He reaches for a single-leg as Rua hamerfists the side of his head, and it buys him enough time to recover. Hendo is backing away now, clearly wary of Rua’s power. They end the round in the clinch, both men grabbing some air. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Henderson.
Round 2:
Hendo starts the round with a little more respect for Rua’s power, looking for a takedown when the Brazilian moves in too close. They get stuck in a clinch against the fence, but it’s only temporary. Back in the center, Hendo lands a good right that sends Rua backwards, then slams him with some body shots when he covers up. They’re slugging it out in the center now, with both man getting his licks in. Hendo presses Rua against the fence and tries to sap some of his strength in close. Rua’s good and bloodied up, breathing out of his mouth. Rosenthal moves in to separate them, and Hendo has some words for the ref. Both men are looking a little worn, but Hendo manages one last good uppercut before the round ends. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Henderson.
Filed under: UFCAt Thursday’s UFC 139 press conference, UFC President Dana White will be joined by fighters Dan Henderson, Shogun Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Cung Le, Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles, and we’ll carry the video live here at MMAFighting.com.
At the pre-fight press conference, the fighters will meet the media and address some of the issues leading up to this fight card, including Henderson and Le leaving Strikeforce for the UFC, Rua and Silva trying to bounce back after losses, and Faber and Bowles possibly competing for the role of No. 1 contender in the bantamweight division.
The press conference begins at 4 p.m. ET and the video is below.
Filed under: UFC, NewsOn November 3, 2001, the fans at the Tokyo Dome were treated to a great fight between Dan Henderson and Murilo “Ninja” Rua at Pride 17. A decade later, Henderson will take on Ninja’s little brother Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139…
On November 3, 2001, the fans at the Tokyo Dome were treated to a great fight between Dan Henderson and Murilo “Ninja” Rua at Pride 17. A decade later, Henderson will take on Ninja’s little brother Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139.
And just because it’s been 10 full years since the Henderson-Rua fight, that doesn’t mean Shogun has forgotten. In fact, Shogun said on Wednesday that he’s been motivated during his preparation for the fight with Henderson to avenge his big brother’s split decision loss to Henderson from the Pride days.
And Rua said that watching and re-watching that fight, and discussing the fight with his brother, has helped him to formulate his game plan for his own bout with Henderson.
“Certainly that was a great fight,” Shogun said. “I watched that fight between my brother and Henderson a number of times. It was a very competitive fight. My brother is one of the people who helped me a lot with my strategy for Dan. I hope to impose my game plan, knowing it’s going to be a tough fight with a great fighter. That was a great fight and I have good memories of it.”
Henderson has even better memories, because he won — but only after a brutal battle, and only by split decision. Henderson said he expects a similarly difficult time fighting against the younger Rua.
“It was a tough fight,” Henderson said. “It was a war and I would expect the same from his brother.”
If the Henderson-Shogun fight is as good as the Henderson-Ninja fight, the fans will be the winners.
Filed under: UFCWill Dan Henderson make a statement in his return to the UFC that he deserves to contend for the light heavyweight belt? Or will Shogun Rua beat Henderson and make a case that he should get another crack at Jon Jones? Can Cung Le thrill…
Will Dan Henderson make a statement in his return to the UFC that he deserves to contend for the light heavyweight belt? Or will Shogun Rua beat Henderson and make a case that he should get another crack at Jon Jones? Can Cung Le thrill the fans in his UFC debut, or will Wanderlei Silva pick up a much-needed win? Will Urijah Faber or Brian Bowles take a big step toward a rematch with bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz?
We’ll examine those questions and more as we predict the winners of Saturday night’s UFC 139 pay-per-view.
What: UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson
When: Saturday, the Facebook preliminary fights start at 6 p.m. ET, the Spike card starts at 8 and the pay-per-view starts at 9.
Where: HP Pavilion, San Jose
Predictions on the five pay-per-view fights below.
Maurício “Shogun” Rua vs. Dan Henderson Henderson left Strikeforce and its light heavyweight belt behind after beating Fedor Emelianenko, and now he’ll try to prove that he deserves a shot at the UFC light heavyweight championship. If he beats Rua, he’d have an excellent case that he deserves to challenge the winner of the upcoming Jones-Lyoto Machida light heavyweight title fight, although Rashad Evans has been waiting for a light heavyweight title shot for a long time, so Henderson may have to get in line.
However, I think it’s going to be a moot point, because I think Rua has the right striking style to frustrate Henderson standing up, and I think he’ll be just good enough on the ground to avoid getting controlled on the canvas by Henderson, who’s a vastly superior wrestler. I like Shogun to win an action-packed fight by decision. Pick: Rua
Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le I’ve always enjoyed the aesthetic beauty of Le’s san shou style of striking, but I’ve never believed it would be effective against a top-notch opponent. And so I think the result of this fight hangs mostly on whether Silva is, at this point in his career, even close to “top-notch” anymore.
So is he? Based on the way the Axe Murderer looked against Chris Leben, I’d have to say no: Silva buckled the first time he was hit hard and was knocked out in just 27 seconds. Silva is 2-6 in his last eight fights, and four of those six losses have been ugly knockouts, and so I’m going to lean toward Le to win this one, just because I think Silva has taken so much damage through his spectacular career that he just doesn’t have a lot left. Pick: Le
Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles Faber is another fighter who has had a long and spectacular career but has begun to decline lately: He was 21-1 in his first 22 fights, but has gone just 4-4 in his last eight. However, Faber’s only losses have been to featherweight and bantamweight champions, and he has looked awfully good while winning, too. Bowles is a terrific fighter who has bounced back from serious hand and foot injuries to win two in a row, but Faber has such good wrestling and such a diverse style of striking that he should be able to dictate where the fight goes and win a decision. Pick: Faber
Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story This is a very interesting fight between two guys who are right on the cusp of the welterweight Top 10 but who are coming off disappointing losses. Story’s wrestling might just be enough for him to control Kampmann for 15 minutes and win a decision, but Kampmann has more ways to win, with a good striking game and varied submissions. Pick: Kampmann
Stephan Bonnar vs. Kyle Kingsbury This isn’t a great matchup — neither of these guys is even close to the top of the light heavyweight division — but it does have the potential to be an entertaining brawl. Bonnar is a fan favorite riding a two-fight winning streak, but Kingsbury is a better technical striker and should beat Bonnar. Pick: Kingsbury
Dan Henderson, Maurico “Shogun” Rua, Cung Le and Wanderlei Silva were all awarded bonuses for the honor of Fight of the Night Saturday at UFC 139 in San Jose.
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