Dan Henderson re-signs with UFC, meets Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 139 by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Sep 19, 2011 at 8:30 pm ET Dan Henderson's long-anticipated return to the UFC is now a reality. Henderson (28-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has verbally agreed to fight former UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (20-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) at UFC 139. Sources close to the event today confirmed the news to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) following an initial report from MMAWeekly.com. UFC 139 takes place Nov. 19 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. While it's likely that Henderson vs. Rua will take main event or co-main event status on the pay-per-view card, the position of the bout could not be confirmed. It's also unclear whether Henderson will vacate his Strikeforce light heavyweight belt, though all signs point to a fresh start two-plus years after he left the UFC. Henderson was unable to come to terms with the UFC executives on a new contract following his explosive knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100 and in late 2009 signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce. The California-based promotion was purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa LLC this past March. During his Strikeforce tenure, Henderson went 3-1 with the promotion and most recently took home a huge win when he stopped once-dominant Fedor Emelianenko with strikes this past July in a non-title heavyweight contest. Following that triumph, he expressed hope that he might be able to fight in both Strikeforce and the UFC. "I definitely feel like there's still a possibility for me to defend that belt in Strikeforce," he recently told Clinch Gear Radio. "But I think now that the UFC has bought Strikeforce, they need to make money off me, and I need to make money, so we'll see what happens. "But I'd like to work out a deal where I'm fighting in both promotions. This past March, he picked up the fourth major title of his career when he stopped Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante to win the light heavyweight title. Before that, he knocked out former champ Renato "Babalu" Sobral to mute a decision loss to Jake Shields in his promotional debut. With three consecutive victories by way of stoppage, Henderson, a former two-title PRIDE champion, has hardly seen his stock soar to greater highs. In Rua, Henderson meets a former UFC champion on the rebound. "Shogun" stopped former champ Forrest Griffin in less than two minutes at UFC 134, which put him back on the right foot after he lost his title to now-champ Jon "Bones" Jones at UFC 128.
I'll go with Shogun, but it's an awesome matchup that definitely would've been between PRIDE's 2 best 205lbers. May consider buying this card.
It's funny, but some poster was whining about Cung Le-Vitor Belfort headlining this card. They went on the normal rant about not being able to believe the UFC would try to sell a PPV with Le-Belfort as the Main Event or some shit like that. Now, if nothing changes, you get Henderson-Rua, Le-Belfort, Bowles-Faber, Kampmann-Story, and possibly Miguel Torres along with a decent under card. Yep, shit card.
should be an explosive fight while it lasts. rua's the more dynamic striker, so he should be favored, but it's hard to count henderson out in any fight.
I'm with you. With Hendo's chin and legitimate fight ending power, it's tough to bet against him in a fight that should take place standing for the most part.
I honestly didn't know anyone actually bought the statement Dana made back then. The model was set with the WEC, of course the UFC would slowly adopt their fighters and fold it. I actually like REED's analogy of making SF the Smackdown to the UFC as RAW. SF could be a great place to develop young fighters and put them on free T.V. I really want to see Jacare, Cormier, King Mo, Melendez, Thompson, and tons others in the UFC. The matchmaking is endless. Does anyone think Dana would ever re-sign Barnett?
I don't know but I can guarantee that he will be praying that Cormier destroy Josh. Personally I don't think Dana would resign Barnett even if Josh wins the Strikeforce tournament. Let's remember that Barnett still can't fight in California, Nevada or New Jersey from what I recall. Does anyone know if Dana has ever re-signed someone that he previously claimed "....would never fight in the UFC again."? I can think of 3 guys (Marquardt, Daley***EDIT**** and Barnett) that Dana has said that about. Any others?
That's the one that immediately came to mind for me, but I can't find where Dana ever said Nick would never fight in the UFC again.
He has always said he likes Diaz, and that he needs to learn to "Play the game" I don't recall him saying he would never sign him.
