Maurício Rua vs. Dan Henderson

[rayallen0]

who you got? I really could go either way but...ill say Shogun. Could easily change my mind later.

[Lil White Azz]

Hendo is one of my favorites so gotta pick him  Gonna be a great fight...

[Sikotic™]

Hendo is a monster. Gotta go with him.

[rayallen0]

Hendo is a monster. Gotta go with him.

Although i agree hendo is a monster. I think the man who beat Liddell, Overeem (2X), Forrest, Randleman, Rampage, Shoji, Diabate & Machida in the 1st round can be categorized in the same category.

I'll make my definitive picks on the day of.

[K-MACC]

shogun 

[rayallen0]

This card is crazy deep and crazy awesome.  Seriously, UFC 139 is going to be a fucking fantastic event.  Just look at these fights!  The preliminary card is pretty great, we’ll see two interesting fights on Spike TV, and an incredible main card with some title relevant fights and some crazy battles that should leave the fans very happy.

Shogun Rua will fight the returning Dan Henderson in the main event in a very important and what should likely be a very exciting fight.  It’s amazing that these two never fought in PRIDE, but we’ll be seeing it live tonight.  The winner of this contest is at most one fight away from title contention, while timing might dictate that the winner gets an immediate title shot.

Wanderlei Silva and Cung Le will not go to a decision, I just have no clue who will win this contest.  The winner of Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles will also be getting a title shot at reigning UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz.  Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story should be a fun contest between two top welterweights, while Stephan Bonnar faces Kyle Kingsbury in a fight that’s only on the main card because of Bonnar’s name.  Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman is perhaps my favorite fight on the preliminary card, though Gleison Tibau vs. Rafael dos Anjos could be a very good contest.

UFC 139 airs live on pay-per-view tonight at 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST with the Spike TV prelims starting at 8:00 PM EST/7:00 PM CST.  The Facebook prelims begin at 6:00 PM EST/5:00 PM CST. 

Ok my picks

Rua - Decision
Le - TKO/KO, Round 1
Bowles - Decision
Kampmann - Decision
Kingsbury - Decision
Bader - Decision
McDonald - KO/TKO, Round 2
Weidman - Submission, Round 3
Tibau - Decision
Torres - Submission, Round 2
Brown - KO/TKO, Round 2
Castillo - KO/TKO, Round 1

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

That was the most epic fight I've ever seen.

[rayallen0]

who the hell voted after the fight...kind of not really a point.

anyways

Light Heavyweight: Dan Henderson d. Mauricio Rua (Unanimous Decision)

Okay, so words for this fight.  How do I do this?  I don’t even know where to begin.  Well first, this fight was fucking amazing.  I would have been thrilled with this card even if this fight was just average.  Faber’s awesome performance and the very fun Silva vs. Cung Le fight were great, but then we get to this?

My God, are these two men warriors.  Dan Henderson brutalized Shogun early in the fight and came close to stopping Rua in the third, but Shogun pushed forward and stunned an exhausted Hendo, who somehow managed to survive Shogun’s onslaught in the last two rounds.  This is the first non-title fight in the UFC to extend into the fourth and fifth rounds and Shogun took advantage of that, but it wasn’t quite enough to win.

The decision was almost an afterthought of that great fight, but all three judges somehow scored the contest 48-47 in Dan Henderson’s favor.  The last round was absolutely dominant enough to have been a 10-8 round in Shogun’s favor and I’m surprised we didn’t see that decision on at least one scorecard.

This might be a loss on Shogun’s record, but few will think of it in that context.  People will remember Shogun and Hendo for putting on one of the best fights in MMA history.  This 25 minute war will only help these men in the immediate future, though I certainly worry that the fight took months or years off of the lives of these two fighters.

I have no clue where we go from here just because there are so many fighters at 205 pounds without fights.  Rumors have placed a Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin fight at the UFC’s second Fox show, so let’s eliminate those two.  We still have Rashad Evans, Phil Davis, and potentially the returning Thiago Silva without fights.  And frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rashad waited for his title shot this time around.  After his initial fight with Phil Davis fell through, there isn’t a ton of reason to take another fight when Jon Jones is fighting in a matter of months.

So fuck, I don’t know.  Maybe Henderson vs. Evans could happen, but that would be a big chance for Rashad to take.  Henderson could fight Rampage if that Griffin fight isn’t official, or maybe he could fight Phil Davis?  And Rua could fight just about any of these men himself.  

Middleweight: Wanderlei Silva d. Cung Le (TKO – Round 2, 4:49)

I did pick against Wanderlei Silva, but I could not have been more happy to see him defeat Cung Le.  Silva had some trouble early and Le was doing a decent job changing up his strikes and landing cleanly.  When the second round came around, we saw a glimpse of the old Wanderlei Silva and it was glorious.  He pounded Cung Le with some brutal knees and punches and, frankly, fucked Cung Le up.  The stoppage may have been a bit premature, but Le was just about done and the stoppage saved unnecessary pain for the Strikeforce star.

I’m not sure that we’ll see Cung Le in the UFC again after that fight.  As for Wandy, I’m having trouble thinking of a good opponent for him.  I would suggest Jorge Santiago if he was still in the UFC.  Maybe the loser of Jason Miller vs. Michael Bisping?  Chris Weidman is another possibility, though I worry for Wandy if that fight takes place.

Bantamweight: Urijah Faber d. Brian Bowles (Submission – Round 2, 1:27)

First, Urijah Faber punched Brian Bowles very hard.  Then Urijah Faber choked Brian Bowles out.  Then the fight was over!  Faber looked extremely impressive in this victory and will now get a second title shot against Dominick Cruz.  I’m anxious to see how Faber approaches a fight with Cruz this time around, but I don’t see any reason why Cruz won’t win that fight again.

Welterweight: Martin Kampmann d. Rick Story (Split Decision)

Martin Kampmann put on his typical strong performance and came back from two controversial losses to take a big win over Rick Story.  Story was having some success early, but Kampmann was getting the easy takedowns and holding Story down with little issue.  From what I understand, the scores were read incorrectly and that Kampmann actually won via unanimous decision.

Light Heavyweight: Stephan Bonnar d. Kyle Kingsbury (Unanimous Decision)

Ugh, Stephan Bonnar.  He’s very lucky that the referee for this fight wasn’t aware he could restart the action.  Bonnar spent most of this fight on top of Kingsbury, doing nothing except advance position without doing much by way of harm.  After the fight, Bonnar mumbled about Josh Koscheck and T-shirts, I don’t know.  I kind of tuned out.

[David Mack]

Been watchin mma for over 10 years Pride/UFC/Shooto/dream/Pancrase/Strikeforce/WEC and Shogun Vs Hendo has to be top 3 all time for me. Just an amazing fight. Had it all...........striking,submissions,wrestling, near knockouts, blood great display of heart, chin and determination. Both men left it all in the octagon. As for the fight it self, I scored it a draw. Hendo winning the first 3 rounds and Shogun taking the 4th and 5th by a 10-8 margin. U really fucked urself if ur a fight fan and missed this fight.

[rayallen0]

Been watchin mma for over 10 years Pride/UFC/Shooto/dream/Pancrase/Strikeforce/WEC and Shogun Vs Hendo has to be top 3 all time for me. Just an amazing fight. Had it all...........striking,submissions,wrestling, near knockouts, blood great display of heart, chin and determination. Both men left it all in the octagon. As for the fight it self, I scored it a draw. Hendo winning the first 3 rounds and Shogun taking the 4th and 5th by a 10-8 margin. U really fucked urself if ur a fight fan and missed this fight.

Man if you only watched the main event you also fucked urself Silva vs. Le was a classic. And if u didnt watch bellator you fucked yourself.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HziG9DBfJf0" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/HziG9DBfJf0</a>

god there has never been a better night in MMA.

[David Mack]

Been watchin mma for over 10 years Pride/UFC/Shooto/dream/Pancrase/Strikeforce/WEC and Shogun Vs Hendo has to be top 3 all time for me. Just an amazing fight. Had it all...........striking,submissions,wrestling, near knockouts, blood great display of heart, chin and determination. Both men left it all in the octagon. As for the fight it self, I scored it a draw. Hendo winning the first 3 rounds and Shogun taking the 4th and 5th by a 10-8 margin. U really fucked urself if ur a fight fan and missed this fight.

Man if you only watched the main event you also fucked urself Silva vs. Le was a classic. And if u didnt watch bellator you fucked yourself.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HziG9DBfJf0" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/HziG9DBfJf0</a>

god there has never been a better night in MMA.

Agreed Chandler vs Alvarez was epic as fuck. Too bad most casuals will sleep on it since its not UFC. Damn shame.