Dan Henderson vs. “Shogun” Rua headlining UFC 139

It appears two former champions, both MMA legends in their own right, will meet on November 19 in San Jose, as Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua have apparently agreed to face off in the main event of UFC 139. Though both light heavyweights were superstars within the PRIDE organization the two never crossed paths in a ring adding another layer of intrigue to the mouth-watering match-up.

News of the fight was first reported by MMAWeekly with other outlets having since confirmed the same news. Nothing official has been announced by the UFC.

Henderson, who holds a win over Rua’s older brother, Murilo Rua, was last seen in Strikeforce stopping heavyweight great Fedor Emelianenko with strikes in the opening round of their July bout while simultaneously carrying the promotion’s 205-pound title. He is 28-8 in his career and holds past victories over a number of notable peers including Michael Bisping, Rich Franklin, Renato Sobral, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Also interesting is the fact Henderson had previously stated he wanted to fight the winner of Jon Jones vs. “Rampage” Jackson rather than compete in a non-title affair.

“Hendo” Not Interested in Fighting Rua

“Shogun” will be looking to build on his impressive knockout of Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 in his quest to re-claim the divisional championship. The polished Brazilian holds an overall record of 20-5 with an incredible seventeen TKOs including strike-based finishes against Lyoto Machida , Quinton Jackson, and Alistair Overeem (X2).

UFC 139 also features former WEC champs Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles battling for top contendership, as well as fights like Martin Kampmann vs. Rick Story and Vitor Belfort vs. Cung Le.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC