UFC 139 featured one of the greatest fights, in Mixed Martial Arts History. Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua displayed tremendous heart, and beat the hell out of each other for 25 minutes. A see-saw like fight, that saw each fighter grab hold of the momentum. For the first two and half rounds, Henderson periodically punished Rua, with vicious right hands, and almost had the fight finished.
Rua was battered and extremely bloodied, however he was far from finished. The fourth and fifth rounds saw the fight momentum swing. A obviously tired Henderson ate several strategic strikes from the clinch, and saw Rua dominate in both positions (on the ground, and standing).
Both fighters gave every ounce of effort, and the judges decision narrowly gave Henderson the victory.
Urijiah Faber looked dominant claiming his next title fight, with a surprisingly one-sided submission victory over former WEC title holder Brian Bowles. From the opening bell Faber overwhelmed Bowles with his striking, and take-downs. The fight ended after a barrage of strikes put Bowles to the ground. Faber followed, grabbed a hold of a choke, then rolled over Bowles, forcing the tap at 1:27 of the second round. Faber is now the clear number one contender and will fight Dominick Cruz again for the Bantamweight Title.
Wanderlei Silva put retirement talks on hold at least for now, with a decisive win over Cung Le. The Brazilian veteran used effective spacing, to counter the versatile attacks of Le. However early in the first round Le landed a stunning spinning back fist to the jaw of Silva, that briefly staggered him. After that, it was all Silva. Towards the end of the fight, Silva closed in on a tired Le. Against the cage, Silva grabbed a plum clinch and began delivering reconstructive knees to a battered Cung Le’s face. Once dropped, Le tried to grab a hold of Silva’s leg, as he ate multiple hammer-fists to the face. The fight ended at 4:49 of the second round.
The fight card results as following:
Dan Henderson def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Wanderlei Silva def. Cung Le via knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 4:49
Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:27
Martin Kampmann def. Rick Story via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Stephan Bonnar def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27)
Ryan Bader def. Jason Brilz via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:17
Michael McDonald def. Alex Soto via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:56
Chris Weidman def. Tom Lawlor via technical submission (D’arce choke) – Round 1, 2:07
Gleison Tibau def. Rafael dos Anjos via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Miguel Torres def. Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:42
Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:52
The Clinch Report Performers of the night: Dan Henderson, Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonner, and Urijah Faber.
THE CLINCH REPORT 