SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dan Henderson has put on some amazing shows over the years, but Saturday night may have been his best.? In a all-time classic fight, Henderson stumbled to the finish line, but he did so much heavy damage over the first three rounds that he earned a unanimous decision victory, 48-47 on all scorecards, over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the main event of UFC 139 at the HP Pavilion.
UFC analyst Joe Rogan said multiple times during the post-fight interviews in the Octagon that the bout was one of the greatest MMA fights in history. It just might have been. Both fighters escaped terrible predicaments and landed shots that would've finish most opponents at light heavyweight. They both held on and survived in those situations.
It was a tale of two fights. Henderson had Rua in trouble in each of the first three rounds. His jackhammer right hands had nearly closed Rua's left eye after 15 minutes. Henderson outlanded Rua 106-66 in the first three.
That's when the championship rounds arrived. Earlier this year, the UFC decided to make all main events, title and non-title fights, five rounds.
Henderson, 41, spent so much energy trying to pound out Rua that he was exhausted in the fourth and fifth. Rua almost took him out in the fourth. Henderson stumbled around the cage over the final 90 seconds with his hands down by his sides. In the fifth, Rua scored a takedown with 4:25 left in the fight and Henderson never got up. Rua mounted Henderson several times. He outlanded Henderson 84-19 down the stretch.
Cagewriter scored the final round 10-8 for Rua, but none of the judges did. If they had, their scores would have matched the 47-47 we had as the final outcome.
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