UFC 139: Henderson slips past Rua in main event

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A week after the Ultimate Fighting Championship made its network television debut on Fox, it was going to take something pretty special to upstage the monumental moment for the organization.

Enter Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Henderson scored a unanimous decision over Rua in the main event of UFC 139 on Saturday night at HP Pavilion, but the result became almost secondary to the phenomenal action inside the cage in the organization's first nontitle event to go five rounds.

"What a night," UFC president Dana White said. "Every time you see a fight like that, you're kind of going crazy afterwards, but I'll say this: It's without a doubt one of the three best fights ever in MMA. I have so much respect for both of those guys for going out there and digging deep like they did for five full rounds."

The pace became frenetic almost immediately.

Henderson dropped Rua with a big right hand moments into the fight and nearly finished it right there. Rua recovered and sent Henderson to the mat with a right hand late in the round. Both fighters, bloody and dazed, headed back to their corners.
The action only heated up from there.

Henderson nearly finished Rua again in the third round with another right hand followed by a series of shots on the ground. Rua answered by taking down Henderson against the cage and connecting with several short lefts that stunned Henderson.

Henderson, the former Strikeforce champion, took the first three rounds on all three scorecards, but then it was Rua's turn to take control of the action.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion sent Henderson staggering across the cage with an uppercut in the fourth round. He got a takedown later in the round, worked to mount and rained punches on Henderson for most of the round's final 30 seconds. He also tried to secure a choke, but his arms slipped off from all the blood and sweat.

Rua dominated the fifth and final round. He secured a takedown and worked to the mount less than a minute into the round and essentially held the position the rest of the way.

After Henderson outstruck Rua 106-66 over the first three rounds, Rua racked up an 84-19 edge over the final two, according to Compustrike. Typically only title fights are scheduled for five rounds, but the UFC recently revised the rule, and all main events now will go that distance.

The Review-Journal scored the final round 10-8 for Rua, making the fight a draw. White had the same score. All three judges awarded Rua a 10-9 round and gave the fight to Henderson, 48-47.

Both fighters were blood-soaked and beaten as the fight ended and were taken immediately to a hospital, though Henderson found time on his way to tweet his desire to fight for a title next.

While White acknowledged the 185- and 205-pound champions already are tied up, he said Henderson likely will be next in line for one of the belts, as he has competed in both divisions.

Stephan Bonnar, whose fight against Forrest Griffin in the championship match of Season 1 of "The Ultimate Fighter" long has been known as one of the most exciting fights in UFC history, was as impressed as anyone by the main event.

"That is the best fight I've ever seen," said the Las Vegan, who won his third straight fight with a unanimous decision over Kyle Kingsbury earlier on the card Saturday night.

Two other Las Vegans also picked up important victories on the card.

Wanderlei Silva, who White hoped would retire after a 27-second knockout loss in July, rebounded to knock out Cung Le in the second round of what was shaping up to be another great fight.

Le landed several hard kicks and had Silva's body puffy and swollen, but Silva flashed the power that has made him a legend in the sport and finished Le with a series of punches, elbows and knees.

Martin Kampmann won a unanimous decision over Rick Story after losing his past two fights in controversial judges' calls. "I was just scared I was going to get screwed again," Kampmann said.

Also, Urijah Faber earned a title shot against bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, to whom he lost in July, by submitting Brian Bowles in the second round.

Ryan Bader, Michael McDonald and Danny Castillo each recorded first-round knockouts on the undercard.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.