Dan Henderson earned a dramatic unanimous decision victory over Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua in a gruelling five-round epic at UFC 139.
Veteran Henderson edges Shogun in five-round battle
Dan Henderson earned a dramatic unanimous decision victory over Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua in a gruelling five-round epic at UFC 139.
The former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion staked his claim for a potential title shot on his return to the Octagon in a pulsating unanimous points decision win, which saw both men close to victory in a brutal five-round battle.
Henderson came close to ending the fight on numerous occasions, but the Brazilian displayed his resilience by bouncing back in the latter rounds, but it was a case of too little too late as Hendo went on to seal an impressive comeback win.
Henderson dominated the first round after rocking Rua in the opening minute and forcing the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion to cover up as he unleashed a barrage of blows.
As Rua bled from a cut above his left eye, Henderson continued to control the pace in the second, which negated the Brazilian's muay thai offensive.
In the third round, Shogun offered brief resistance before Henderson floored him with a vicious right hand which looked to have ended the fight, but Shogun managed to snare the veteran American with an ankle lock, but was unsuccessful.
Unlike the previous main event at UFC 138 that was allotted five-round status, this match looked like it would go the distance in a brutal fourth round that saw more blood spilt and desperate blows traded.
Despite enduring heavy blows in the opening three rounds, Shogun bounced back with impressive uppercuts of his own, which had Henderson stunned for the first time in the bout and allowed the Brazilian to take his opponent down.
In the final round Henderson looked exhausted, but despite dominating Rua was unable to snatch the victory and Hendo held on to record a famous win.
Shock
Elsewhere, Wanderlei Silva shocked UFC newcomer Cung Lee with a second-round stoppage in a brutal Middleweight bout.
The veteran Brazilian scored the 34th win of his lengthy MMA career with a TKO following a series of blows that rocked the former professional kickboxer.
In the Lightweight division, Urijah Faber bounced back from defeat to champion Dominick Cruz with an impressive submission win over Brian Bowles.
Faber staggered Bowles with an uppercut in the second round, before capitalising on his stunned opponent's position, and sealing the victory with a guillotine choke.
The 'California Kid' is now setup for a re-match with Cruz, whom he lost to by decision in their previous title bout at UFC 132.
Elsewhere, Martin Kampmann bounced back from two consecutive defeats to defeat Rick Story via split points decision.
The Dane weather an early onslaught from Story to use his superior grappling skills to dominate the later rounds after the youngster looked impressive in the opener.
Finally, in a Light Heavyweight clash Stephan Bonnar sealed a unanimous points victory over Kyle Kingsbury on his return to the Octagon after dominating from the first round.
