The UFC 139 bout between Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua and Dan Henderson will take its rightful place in the UFC Hall of Fame. The classic, which took place on Nov. 19, 2011, will join Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar 1, Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg 2, and Mark Coleman vs. Pete Williams at part of the Fights wing in the Hall of Fame.
The UFC announced the induction during UFC 224 and the bout will be honored during UFC International Fight Week in July.
Rua vs. Henderson is widely considered as the best five-round fight in MMA history. The two men engaged in a 25-minute firefight that ended in a semi-controversial decision in favor of Henderson.
Henderson nearly put Rua away multiple times early in the fight, but the legendary chin of Rua held up under the duress of multiple H-bombs. As the fight wore on, Henderson began to slow, allowing Rua, who somehow had something left in the tank, to takeover. Rua spent the majority of the final five minutes in the mount position, hoping to force a stoppage. But Henderson, who had never been stopped in his career up to that point, did enough to survive.
At the time, the majority of fans thought the bout should have been a draw, feeling that Rua's dominance in the fifth round warranted a 10-8 scorecard. The judges disagreed, scoring the final round just 10-9 for Rua and giving Henderson a 48-47 decision across the board.
The two would rematch on Mar. 23, 2014. In that contest, Henderson left no doubt, stopping the Brazilian in the third round with strikes.
The first bout between the two was just the second five-round non-title main event in UFC history and the first to go to a decision.
