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UFC 139: Shogun Rua’s Manager Talks Dan Henderson and a Drop to 185 Pounds

On the UFC 139 fight card, former UFC and Pride champions Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua collide in a light heavyweight battle that would help shape the title picture at 205 pounds.The possibilities are endless with this fight. One fighter may…

On the UFC 139 fight card, former UFC and Pride champions Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua collide in a light heavyweight battle that would help shape the title picture at 205 pounds.

The possibilities are endless with this fight. One fighter may end up being next in line—and somehow jump Rashad Evans, AGAIN—for a shot at Jon Jones or Lyoto Machida’s belt.

But according to Eduardo Alonso—Shogun’s manager—the former UFC light heavyweight champion isn’t looking past Henderson.

“Fighting for the belt or not is a natural consequence, it’s not something we have to worry about. We can’t predict what will come to us,” said Alonso in an interview with Brazilian website Tatame.com. “The important [thing] is for us to do our jobs, then later we’ll see. If it’s worth the title, great. If it’s not, there’s no big deal about it, we’ll keep on working.”

Henderson has become a legend in the sport. Henderson, in his last fight, came in and beat former No. 1 pound-for-pound king and the greatest fighter of all-time in some people’s minds, Fedor Emelianenko, by first round knockout.

The fact that Henderson is a legend has gotten Shogun excited about the fight.

“I guess a win over Dan Henderson, to anyone, is a big deal. It doesn’t matter in which division it is. Dan Henderson is on top since Rings,” said Alonso. “He’s the current Strikeforce champion in the weight class, he’s coming from impressive wins, including the one over Fedor, which is something we can never undermine. Beating Dan Henderson is a great deal for one’s career.”

With a win, some think Henderson could get a shot at the middleweight belt, even though his win would be at the light heavyweight level. For Shogun, though, a move to middleweight wouldn’t be in the cards.

“Honestly, I don’t think about it. Shogun is a guy who naturally weights over 100kg [around 220 pounds]. His legs are heavy, so it’s hard for him to lose weight. He can drop to 93kg [around 205 pounds] and perform in high level,” said Alonso. “Few athletes have beaten up so many top 10 athletes like Shogun did. I don’t see why he’d drop to the middleweight division…It’d be hard on him, I guess he’d suffer a lot”.

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Wanderlei Silva Looking to Fight into His 40s: "Trying to Pass Couture"

Samurai MMA held its inaugural show on the weekend in Culver City, Calif., and UFC middleweight and MMA legend Wanderlei Silva was in attendance cornering Wand Fight team fighter Michael Madrid. Karyn Bryant of MMA H.E.A.T spoke to Silva about his upc…

Samurai MMA held its inaugural show on the weekend in Culver City, Calif., and UFC middleweight and MMA legend Wanderlei Silva was in attendance cornering Wand Fight team fighter Michael Madrid.

Karyn Bryant of MMA H.E.A.T spoke to Silva about his upcoming bout with Cung Le at UFC 139 and his plans for the remainder of his legendary career.

Silva thanked the local promotion and gave a solid endorsement of why small, regional MMA is vital to the sport.

“Congratulations to the guys at Samurai Pro, I think today born the new good event you know. I saw that last fight, amazing, amazing.”

When asked if he remembers his days in the small shows, Silva gave a legend’s endorsement on why the availability of these shows are essential.

“Of course, we need to have events like this that give opportunities to the new fighters to show your work and, I’m so glad we have new events to give opportunities to new fighters.”

Bryant then asked what advice he passes down to young fighters before they step in the cage to fight.

“We need to make a fighter calm. Sometimes the first fight stays in your mind. Sometimes we thinking about bad things and not positive things. So, it’s thinking about your positive things now and try to make the fight in your game. Pray to God, then let’s go!”

“I pray to God all the time. God makes me calm, makes me focus.”

The conversation then turned to Cung Le.

“Really good opponent I studied his game. I think he has the best kicks in MMA. I start training the defense of that kicking and he’s great. I hope we give a great show to the fans in San Jose.”

The fight with Cung Le aside, many fans are wondering how much longer “The Axe Murderer” plans to keep training and fighting. Bryant hinted that fans are concerned about his health.

“I just came back from the doctor and make all checks and doctor told me ‘the guy can fight for 20 more years.’ I’m really healthy. I’m trying to pass Couture now.” he chuckled.

“Couture stop at 48, had a big fight so…”

“I’m so happy for my career. I can’t tell you one, two, three, four, 10, 11, 12, we don’t know. You never know about tomorrow but right now I’m fighting for two fights.”

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

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UFC 139: Is Rick Story a Win Away from Becoming an Elite Welterweight?

For, Rick “The Horror” Story, UFC 139 could not have worked out better for him without drawing the champion himself.Story took a UFC on Versus 4 bout with Nate Marquardt on short notice once Anthony Johnson pulled out, but issues pertaining to circumst…

For, Rick “The Horror” Story, UFC 139 could not have worked out better for him without drawing the champion himself.

Story took a UFC on Versus 4 bout with Nate Marquardt on short notice once Anthony Johnson pulled out, but issues pertaining to circumstances outside of Story’s control caused Marquardt to be released by the UFC and replaced by Charlie Brenneman.

Now, considering that all but the third round went to Brenneman, you would think that Story might get a noticeable step down in competition coming into UFC 139, but Joe Silva (and maybe Dana White) gave Story a real step up in competition when they contacted Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann with the offer to take on Story.

Some feel Story and Brenneman were stood up prematurely while Story was looking for a victory by Triangle Choke after two unsuccessful guillotine choke attempts, which is funny with the Kampmann fight approaching because almost all of the MMA World feels Kampmann beat Diego Sanchez at UFC on Versus 3.

Take the addition of this fight for what it’s worth, but never undermine what it means if Story hands Kampmann a serious loss in San Jose.

It might take Story a win or two to earn his status as a possible contender if he beats Kampmann, but taking the heavy hands and upper body strength into account against Kampmann’s evolving takedown offense, smooth submissions and diverse striking, why would any doubt exist as to whether Story is among the elite at what’s left of the UFC Welterweight division if he does what Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez visibly did not seem able to do, despite their decision wins over the Xtreme Couture standout and UFC veteran Kampmann?

Story has come this far because the fighters from the same cloth as Johny Hendricks and Thiago Alves were locked in as winners against Story before they ever fought Story, and Kampmann seems all but a lock for a certain winner as well, but Kampmann has the same chance to win that Hendricks and Alves did before Story defeated them.

At the end of the day, we are still referring to a fight, so whatever will happen is going to happen, and nothing is ruled out of the question.

Kampmann is a good fighter, but by signing this fight, he could be putting himself in front of the one prospect—besides a Rory MacDonald-type of fighter—who might just be able to solidly defeat him.

Yes, Story will have 15 minutes to earn his status as an elite welterweight against Kampmann, and the last time MMA fans checked, no 15-minute bout ever comes easy when a man draws Martin Kampmann, but Story never ducks fights and he never quits in fights.

Kampmann will make Story earn both the win and the elite label, but if anyone not named Georges St-Pierre, Nick Diaz or BJ Penn could do it without controversy against Kampmann, it would be Story.

Talk is cheap, though—we won’t know for sure before it happens, but we’ll know for sure come Novemebr 19th at UFC 139.

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MMA: GSP out of UFC 137, Surgery for Shane Carwin and the Week’s Biggest News

It was a rough week for the world of mixed martial arts as a number of fighters suffered injuries and were forced out of upcoming bouts.Most notably, UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre fell victim to a knee injury and is out of the UFC 137 main e…

It was a rough week for the world of mixed martial arts as a number of fighters suffered injuries and were forced out of upcoming bouts.

Most notably, UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre fell victim to a knee injury and is out of the UFC 137 main event against Carlos Condit.

Former UFC interim heavyweight champ Shane Carwin revealed that will be out until 2012 due to lower back surgery.

Additionally, a former winner of the The Ultimate Fighter has found a new promotion and a number of upcoming cards have undergone changes.

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UFC 139: Is Martin Kampmann a Contender or a Gatekeeper?

It’s not really reinventing the wheel to try and figure out where Martin Kampmann is in the UFC’s welterweight division. Anyone who’s been watching him for any amount of time has been trying to figure him out. Every time he enters the…

Every time he enters the cage he puts on a good show, he fights top guys and he’s never badly beaten. In fact, his last two losses were arguably wins. Actually, he flat out beat Diego Sanchez, no matter what the judges said.

But all those solid performances and good showings against tough opposition have left him in purgatory at 170lbs. What is he? A contender? A gatekeeper? Just a guy?

The reality is, if you’ve only lost to top-10 guys and guys who’ve fought for titles in the UFC, you’re legit. You’re a contender.

Hell, Kampmann has a win over Carlos Condit, who until Tuesday was going to fight for gold next weekend. That has to count for something.

Kampmann’s striking is vaunted, a remarkably crisp style founded on a lifetime of kickboxing. He understands angles and distance, he’s quick and he’s among the more technical combatants in all of MMA, much less his division.

He can also take a tremendous punch, as he’s displayed numerous times—most notably against Paul Daley, who regularly beheads opponents. Daley was unable to put Kampmann to the mat no matter how hard he tried.

He’s also among the most underrated grapplers in the division, as he’s difficult to take down and even more difficult to keep there.

Jake Shields, who has perhaps the best combination of jiu-jitsu and wrestling in all of MMA, had to fight tirelessly to take the Dane to the ground at UFC 121. Even when he did it usually came at the cost of eating big punches and knees.

The issue for Kampmann, it seems, is the gameplan. Particularly, how quickly it goes out the window when he gets the itch to throw down.

Training at Xtreme Couture in Vegas, he has access to perhaps the best mind in mixed martial arts in Randy Couture, a champion who proved his mettle countless times in the Octagon.

Yet, if you tag him or show any willingness to stand and chuck hands at all, Martin Kampmann is standing in front of you and throwing back. Gameplan be damned, he’s knocking you out or he’ll die trying.

That’s perhaps not the best approach if you have an eye on the title.

While people love a guy who throws caution to the wind, you don’t see those guys fight for gold that often.

You need to temper your enthusiasm to crack skulls a little, and perhaps use some of that unheralded wrestling and grappling from time to time. Kampmann won’t, and as a result he finds himself hovering in the top-10 but never really making up much ground.

Maybe that makes him a gatekeeper, a stout test for anyone who thinks they deserve to fight the big fish. There’s certain as strong an argument for him being a gatekeeper as there is for contender.

Therefore, it’s probably only fair to say that Martin Kampmann isn’t too far from either side of that dividing line between contender and gatekeeper.

In fact, perhaps he is that line.

But with a win over Rick Story at UFC 139, he’ll be back on the contender side of things, which is at the very least a guarantee for some exciting fights in the future. No fan can hate that idea.

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UFC 139: Dan Henderson’s Boxing Coach Says Shogun Rua’s Striking Has ‘Flaws’

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 f…

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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