On November 19, 2011, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold an event for the first time in San Jose, California when they present UFC 139: Shogun vs Hendo. The main event will be contested for a #1 contendership spot in the Light Heavyweight division when two decorated veterans and former champions of the sport meet between Mauricio Rua and Dan Henderson. The co-main event will pit a beloved veteran of the sport in Wanderlei Silva against a veteran martial artist in former champion Cung Le. The midway bout will be contested for a #1 contendership in the Bantamweight division between two former WEC champions pitting Urijah Faber against Brian Bowles. The second bout on the card will be a meeting of two tough Welterweights when Danish striker Martin Kampmann faces resilient grinder Rick Story. And the opening bout is expected to be a Fight of the Night candidate when fan favorite Stephan Bonnar takes on Kyle Kingsbury. With plenty of homegrown California talent in Henderson, Le, Faber, and Kingsbury, the Golden State crowd is expected to be treated to a entertaining card. Between all these bouts on the main card, this is one many fans feel any fight could contend for Fight of the Night honors.
Main Card Bouts:
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (20-5-0) vs Dan "Hendo" Henderson (28-8-0)
Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva (33-11-1(1)) vs Cung Le (7-1-0)
"The California Kid" Urijah Faber (25-5-0) vs Brian Bowles (10-1-0)
Martin "Hitman" Kampmann (17-5-0) vs Rick "Horror" Story (13-4-0)
Stephan "The American Psycho" Bonnar (13-7-0) vs Kyle "Kingsbu" Kingsbury (11-2-0(1))
Main Event: Rua vs Henderson
The main event will be contested for a spot as the #1 contender in the Light Heavyweight division after Rashad Evans has his go at the title. This bout will pit former PrideFC Middleweight Grand Prix winner and former UFC division champion Mauricio Rua against former PrideFC Welterweight/Middleweight and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion Dan Henderson. This bout will be long overdue to so many hardcor MMA fans seeing these two fighters should have met in their prime back in PrideFC before it became defunct. Should Henderson win this bout, he may be given the option to take a #1 contendership spot in the Middleweight division instead. Rua comes into this bout off a rebound Rnd1 KO win over fellow former division champion and TUF1 winner Forrest Griffin at UFC RIO/134: Silva vs Okami II. Henderson comes into this bout riding a three fight win streak that includes a Rnd1 KO over former Strikeforce champion Renato Sobral, a Rnd3 KO over Rafael Cavalcante to earn the Strikeforce division title, and a Rnd1 TKO over former PrideFC Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in a Heavyweight bout at Strikeforce: Fedor vs Henderson. With both fighters having credentialed backgrounds in both MMA and other combative sports, this is truly a meeting of veterans. In the stand up both fighters are capable of knocking out an opponent with a single punch in signature fashions. Rua is a former Muay Thai champion with seventeen (T)KO victories to his record as a result of an aggressive approach when striking. Henderson while having no credentials as a striker has become one of the most recognized knockout artists setting up his signature right hand in many of his fight with a light left kick to distract his opponents to set up his over-hand right that has floored many and help earn him thirteen career (T)KO victories. With the more diverse striking style and some dangerous leg kicks from his Muay Thai background Rua will be a slight favorite for many in the stand up, though the advantage on the ground could change that strategy. Even with both being credentialed grapplers in their own disciplines, the advantage when grappling could go the way of Henderson. In the past Rua has visibly been at a disadvantage against wrestlers at times and as seen in his last bout against Lyoto Machida he can easily be taken down. With a decorated background in Greco-Roman wrestling and smothering clinch work Henderson could neutralize Rua's stand up by controlling him against the cage and taking him to the ground. Even with the advantage seen for Henderson, Rua still possesses a credentialed background in BJJ that he rarely puts to use. Overall if the fight stays standing many will consider it even with neither going down easy, though Rua will be favored. When grappling, in the clinch, and in a scramble Henderson will be favored able to control.
Co-Main Event: Silva vs Le
The co-main event will pit two former champions and phenomenal strikers against each other when former PrideFC Middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva takes on former Strikeforce Middleweight champion and debuting Cung Le. Silva comes into this bout off a Rnd1 KO loss to TUF1 alumni Chris Leben at UFC 132: Cruz vs Faber II. Le comes into this bout following a sixteen month layoff after rebounding from his first professional loss and avenging it with a Rnd2 KO over Scott Smith at Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum. With two devastating strikers loving to showcase their own styles, this bout is expected to stay standing and result in somebody getting finished. Comparing the striking between the two, both have different styles that make for an interesting style match up. For Silva, he is an experienced Muay Thai practitioner who to this day holds the record for most knockout victories in PrideFC history at fifteen adding to thirty-three total career (T)KO victories altogether with an aggressive style that involves closing the distance fast and sometimes getting into brawling exchanges. For Le, he is a disciplined Sanshou and Taekwondo practitioner with an undefeated kickboxing record of sixteen wins and all of his professional MMA wins coming by way of (T)KO. While Silva will focus on punches mainly and lock a collar clinch to drive in knees, Le looks to utilize distance throwing powerful kicks that broke the arm of Frank Shamrock and won him his Strikeforce title. Seeing that Silva appears to have become more susceptible to being knocked out as possible result of enduring so many punches in his career, Le will be the favorite in the stand up, though Silva will have a five inch reach advantage to help. For the advantage on the ground, Le may also be considered the favorite. With some collegiate wrestling experience and training with top wrestlers like Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, Le will be able to take the fight to the ground where he can control. Similar to Rua, Silva is an experienced BJJ black belt that rarely utilizes his grappling background preferring to stay standing instead. Overall Le will be a favorite for many to win.
Do to usual chang-ups in the scheduling bouts shown prior to the co-main event may not happen in the order shown.
Faber vs Bowles
The midway bout will be contested for the #1 contendership spot in the Bantamweight division, and a chance for either to avenge a loss to reigning champion Dominic Cruz, when former WEC Featherweight champion Urijah Faber takes on former WEC Bantamweight champion Brian Bowles. Faber comes into this bout following a Unanimous Decision loss to division champion Cruz at UFC 132: Cruz vs Faber II that evened the score between them 1-1 and earned Fight of the Night. Bowles comes into this bout on a two fight win streak with a second Rnd1 Submission over Damacio Page that earned Submission of the Night honors and a Unanimous Decision over Takeya Mizugaki also at UFC132. For this bout both competitors are mostly considered even in both the stand up and grappling. In the stand up both are heavy handed punchers with a mix of kickboxing. For stances, Faber likes to keep his hands low at the ready to attempt takedowns while Bowles will keep his hands up. While both are hard hitting punchers they are also susceptible to breaking their own hands like in previous bouts. Since both fighters have broken one or both hands, their striking styles seem to have changed with less tendency to engage and be aggressive. With the more diverse style Faber is favored in the stand up changing up his strikes. For the advantage when grappling, Faber will be slightly more favored with an aggressive combination of fast paced collegiate wrestling and BJJ. Even with the odds favoring Faber when grappling, Bowles is no slouch on the ground as well with a brown belt in BJJ and six of his ten wins coming by way of submission. With the combination of wrestling and BJJ Faber is a favorite over Bowles on the ground. Overall Faber is favored to come out with a win and get his third and final fight with Dominick Cruz.
Kampmann vs Story
The second bout on the card will be contested at Welterweight pitting former kickboxer Martin Kampmann against rising contender Rick Story. Kampmann comes into this bout following a two fight losing streak which many fans feel were controversial decisions with a Split Decision loss to former Strikeforce Middleweight champion Jake Shields and a Unanimous Decision loss to TUF1 winner Diego Sanchez at UFC Live 3: Sanchez vs Kampmann that earned Fight of the Night honors. Story comes into this bout after an upset loss to Charlie Brenneman who came in on just a days notice at UFC Live 4: Kongo vs Barry. With both fighters on the edge of entering the list of top ranked competitors in the Welterweight division, the winner will for sure be reintroduced to possible title contention. In the stand up this bout shows some resemblance to Kampmann's previous bout against Sanchez. Comparing techniques Kampmann is the more technical striker picking opponents apart waiting for them to come into his shots, while Story is a strong puncher who works get up close and initiate brawls. With the more technical style Kampmann is favored in the stand up with a strong kickboxing game, but with his tendency to throw game plan aside to get into brawls that could change. Many believe for Story to get the better of the stand up he must rush, frustrate, and draw Kampmann into yet another brawl to throw him off track from his game plan so he makes the usual mistakes. For the advantage when grappling, both fighters have their own preferences on the ground. Though Kampmann came from a striking background he has become a dangerous submission grappler and surprisingly has developed great takedown defense as shown against Sanchez previously when he defended over twenty takedown attempts. Story on the other hand has a wrestling background and uses his up close brawling style to clinch and muscle his opponents to the ground. With a great submission game and takedown defense that could neutralize Story's takedowns Kampmann is favored when grappling. With the more technical striking and effective counter-grappling Kampmann is favored overall in this fight.
Bonnar vs Kingsbury
The opening bout will be contested at Light Heavyweight pitting TUF1 finalist and fan favorite Stephan Bonnar against TUF8 alumni Kyle Kingsbury. Bonnar comes into this bout riding a two fight win streak avenging a controversial loss to Krzysztof Soszynski with a Rnd2 TKO that won Fight of the Night and a Unanimous Decision over Igor Pokrajac at the TUF12 Finale. Kingsbury comes into this bout on a four fight win streak including a Split Decision over Razak Al-Hassan, a Unanimous Decision over Jared Hamman that earned Fight of the Night, a Rnd1 TKO over Ricardo Romero, and a Unanimous Decision over Fabio Maldonado at the TUF13 Finale that also won Fight of the Night honors. For the advantage in the stand up, Bonnar will be the more favored competitor in this bout. With a diverse background of striking and compared to the kickboxing game of Kingsbury, Bonnar has a more diverse arsenal of strikes. For the advantage when grappling the advantage could be considered even, though Bonnar may be the favorite. Comparing the BJJ game of Bonnar to the wrestling game of Kingsbury could neutralize both competitors' capabilities on the ground, though with more experience and good work in the clinch Bonnar knows how to counter the wrestling in this case. Overall Bonnar is favored to win.
An added "X" factor in this bout is one that works against Kingsbury. Seeing his last fight where he had put on an amazing amount of mass and muscle, Kingsbury began to gas quickly in the bout to the point where he was nearly finished by his opponent. With so much muscle requiring more oxygen intake Kingsbury may have a hard time meeting the aggression from Bonnar and having to carry his weight against the cage in the clinch. With this added factor Bonnar is a heavy favorite.
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