Nitesh Dutt
CSNBayArea.com
There are few times when the word “epic” can be used to
describe a sporting event and be used correctly. Tonight that word can be used
to define the battle between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan “Hendo” Henderson.
It was a fight that fans had been hoping to see since their
days in PRIDE and, even after almost a decade, Hendo and Shogun delivered a
fight that fans will remember forever. The five-round light-heavyweight battle
had everything you could imagine. Both fighters looked like they went through
an absolute war.
The fight was tipping towards Hendo after the first two
rounds. He had the Brazilian Rua bloodied and reeling, but couldn’t land the
knockout blow. Mid-way thru the third it seemed like Rua got another shot of
adrenaline. The fight started to look even as each threw punches, landed kicks
and went for finishes.
As the rounds changed, so did the momentum. Shogun started
taking over and Hendo was the one reeling. Roles had reversed, but the
intensity remained. The crowd began to get louder and more raucous as each
minute passed. By the end of the fifth and final round HP Pavilion was going
insane.
As is the case with a lot of epic bouts, this one went to
the scorecards. It was a hard fight for many to call as each fighter had
advantages and looked to be in control. The fight ended in a unanimous decision
for Dan Henderson. All three judges had it 48-47.
This is one of those sports moments that comes around very
rarely. UFC President Dana White called this bout “one of the top-3 of
all-time,” going on to say it is our “Ali-Frazier 3”.
For one night, San Jose was the epicenter of the MMA
universe and the UFC did not disappoint. On a night of great fights, the epic
main event between Hendo and Shogun stole the show.
Undercard notes
Le vs. Silva: The
co-main event of the evening was a bout between two legends. Wanderlei Silva
took on San Jose’s Cung Le in this middleweight fight. The first was pretty
even as Le knocked Silva down early, but was unable to build on that. That left
an opening for Silva, who took advantage.
The end of the first and all of the second belonged to
Silva. After a bit of back and forth, Silva landed several punches that rocked
Le. Le ended up against the cage where Silva teed off with knees and more
punches. Le was unable to counter anything and the ref stopped the fight. It
was Silva’s first win since 2010 and puts the “legendary” title back on his
resume.
Faber vs. Bowles:
Two former WEC champs took the stage in this bantamweight bout and it’s easy to
say the fight did not disappoint. “The California Kid” Urijah Faber, who fights
out of Sacramento, dominated early and rode a strong wave of punches and knees
to a second-round finish.
After Bowles opened the second with a straight jab, Faber
countered with a vicious uppercut. That began the end for Bowles. The fight
ended with Faber the winner via submission by way of guillotine. He is now the
number one contender for the UFC bantamweight title.
Kampmann vs. Story:
In what started as a brawl, Kampmann won by split decision after a technically
dominant second and third round. He was able to slow the tempo and control the
fight on the ground.
Kingsbury vs. Bonnar:
Bonnar defeated the San Jose native Kingsbury by unanimous decision. Crowd
booed as Bonnar kept fight on the ground and used his Jiu-Jitsu to control the fight.
Knockout of the Night:
Michael McDonald
Submission of the
Night: Urijah Faber
Fight of the Night: Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua
and Cung Le vs. Wanderlei SilvaFollow me on Twitter @NiteshDutt.
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