San Jose, CA, November 19, 2011 – Is this new world of increasingly mainstream exposure for mixed martial arts, there’s still a die-hard breed of fan whose most fond memories belong in a past filled with wonder and excitement called the Pride Fighting Championship. Tonight that world was brought back if only for one night when a few of what can now be deemed the old guard put on some stellar performances at UFC 139.
Leading the way in what will undoubtedly be mentioned as a consensus “fight of the year” candidate were former PRIDE champions Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The two engaged in an absolute war for twenty-five solid minutes that saw both men have their moments and leave the cage exhausted and bloodied. The world will never know who would have won had the bout been contested in PRIDE-rules but according to the 10-point must system used by the UFC, Henderson did well enough to score the win in the first three deciding rounds.
The 41 year old started quickly with his biggest weapon, quckly connecting that right hand of his to Shogun’s dome and dropping him in the first. Dangerous Dan would then jump and try to end things with a front choke but Rua would survive and throw back while eating some punches from his opponent. This trend would continue in the second and third with Henderson once again landing his trademark right to put Rua in trouble. The Brazilian would dig deep and find the budo to survive the relentless assualt that followed with Henderson giving it all he had to try and gain the finish.
Once the storm passed, Rua would find his own momentum and begin to turn the tide in the fourth, this time rocking Henderson instead of the other way round. The two would then go into the fifth and final round with Rua’s entire face bloodied and bruised while Henderson was essentially punched out and possibly fighting with a broken hand. It would be all Rua in the fifth with several well-timed takedowns and a bevy of guard passing into mount. Unable to muster anything else but defense at this point, Henderson would bait an armbar to try and get Rua to give up his base but Shogun would have none of it while trying to pound Hendo out. Try as he, it was not enough and all three judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of Henderson in what was truly a magnificent fight.
Also putting in work in another vintage performance was Wanderlei Silva, who referred back to “Axe Murderer” status against hometown favorite Cung Le.
Many were expecting this to be a sad night for fans of WAND with Le expected to serve as a bad matchup for the former Chute Boxe star but once again, a legend refused to go quietly into the good night. The two dynamic strikers put on a display of their contrasting styles from the opening bell with Le using his kicks to keep Silva at bay while “The Axe Murderer” paid mind to distance while waiting for the opportune moment to step in and rock his opponent. Cung would land a spinning backfist that had his opponent momentarilly stunned but Silva would stay resilient and slowly take the momentum over to his side as the second round wore on. Eventually he would catch the San Jose native with a hard right hand and some well-times Muay Thai knees that would drop him to the canvas and have Silva pouncing for the finish.
Based on that performance, it looks like we haven’t seen the last of the “Axe Murderer” after all.
The remainder of the pay-per-view undercard belonged to three veterans defending their ground against three up-and-coming challengers looking to make a name for themselves.
Former WEC champ Urijah Faber would lead the way against a surging Brian Bowles, defeating him by a guillotine choke after going toe-to-toe with the exciting striker and hurting him on the feet. Martin Kampmann would follow suit with an impressive split decision victory over Rick Story while Stephan Bonnar would round things out by out-grappling the overmatched Kyle Kingsbury to earn the unanimous decision victory in the eyes of the judges.
As for the rest of the undercard, up-and-coming fighters had more success in raising their stock. In particular, Ryan Bader, Michael McDonald, and Chris Weidman showed glimpses of promising futures with impressive finishes in their respective bouts. The youngest fighter on the UFC roster, “Mayday” would score knockout of the night honors with his impressive first round, first minute knockout of Alex Soto while Weidman scored a very impressive D’Arce choke to gain the submission of the Night bonus. The two feature bouts of the evening also earned FOTN bonus honors for the evening. Below is a complete summary of the night’s action along with video of the post-fight press conference courtesy of the UFC.
UFC 136 – Full Results
• Dan Henderson over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
• Wanderlei Silva over Cung Le by knockout (strikes) – Round 2, 4:49
• Urijah Faber over Brian Bowles by submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:27
• Martin Kampmann over Rick Story by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Stephan Bonnar over Kyle Kingsbury by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27)
• Ryan Bader over Jason Brilz by knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:17
• Michael McDonald over Alex Soto by knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:56
• Chris Weidman over Tom Lawlor by technical submission (D’arce choke) – Round 1, 2:07
• Gleison Tibau over Rafael dos Anjos by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
• Miguel Torres over Nick Pace by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Seth Baczynski over Matt Brown by submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:42
• Danny Castillo over Shamar Bailey by TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:52
UFC 139 Post-Fight Press Conference
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