Henderson-Rua: One for the ages
Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua engaged in one of the most savagely contested mixed martial arts fights of all time.
Jeff Chiu / APDan Henderson, top, punches Mauricio Rua during the fourth round of a UFC 139 Mixed Martial Arts light heavyweight bout in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. Henderson won by unanimous decision. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
By Mike Chiapetta
NBCSports.com contributor
updated 4:05 p.m. ET Nov. 21, 2011
On Saturday night, Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua engaged in one of the most savagely contested mixed martial arts fights of all time. By the end of the UFC 139 main event, the scene looked like a car crash. Sections of the mat were dyed red with blood, Rua’s face was cut and swollen and Henderson needed assistance walking back to his locker room. For both men, trips to the hospital were unavoidable necessities.
All around the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, jaws had literally been unhinged for the previous 25 minutes. No one had to wait for the official announcement to be made (for the record, Henderson was awarded the judges’ decision) to make their own declarations that what they had witnessed was the greatest fight of all time. If it was not that, it certainly deserves to be in the conversation. Immediately afterward, calls for a rematch began.
Yet for all its brilliance as a combat sports offering for the ages, I hope to never see the two stand across the cage from each other again.
That might sound counterintuitive. If the two produced one of the sport’s all-time epic matches, they could certainly do so again. Yet I don’t want them to even try.
Part of my reasoning is selfish. There is almost no way a second fight could match up to the first. Our expectations would be inflated from the get-go, and anything short of the hellbent-on-victory struggle we saw on Saturday would be a letdown. Why not just leave this fight to history and move on?
But part of my reasoning is out of concern for the fighters. If you subscribe to the notion that a war of attrition takes a little piece of each fighter, and I do, you must wonder if either or both will ever be the same. According to stats provider FightMetric, the two landed over 300 combined strikes between them, and most of those were heavy on power and targeted at the head.
Any fight carries with it an element of risk, but as two of the most offensive fighters of the sport’s recent history, Henderson and Rua seem to ratchet up the danger to maximum levels.
On more than one occasion, each man looked to be on the verge of defeat, battered by his opponent but somehow surviving the onslaught. It was alternately terrifying, thrilling and gripping. MMA as theater.
Thankfully, we are not likely to get an immediate sequel. By virtue of his win, Henderson put himself into position to fight for a championship. The remarkable 41-year-old has now won seven of his last eight fights and may get to face the winner of December’s Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida fight. Or, perhaps he may face Rashad Evans in a true No. 1 contenders fight. It will depend on timing really, and after Saturday, Henderson deserves the time to recover and get healthy and recharged before marching on with his last stand.
For Rua, the future is not quite as clear. Though still just 29 years old, he’s lost three of his last five fights and taken tremendous damage in two of them. Despite losing, he did answer a lingering question regarding his conditioning, taking over the fight late and dominating Henderson in the final round. From the looks of his state after leaving the cage, he’s going to need a while, too.
But Rua did at least plant the seeds of a rematch, telling Brazilian news organization UOL Esporte that Henderson “is a legend and one of those fighters who have created a legacy, but I want revenge. I think it would be another great battle and [one] the public wants to see."
Don’t count me among that group. I would prefer it if they didn’t try to improve upon a masterpiece. If Henderson wins the championship and Rua works his way back up the rankings, it might be unavoidable, but Henderson’s age combined with Rua’s climb works against that possibility.
In the end, when it comes to a rematch, we have to ask ourselves two things. First, Why is it necessary? The answer is, it’s not. Even with a slight bit of scoring controversy, Rua won’t be badly penalized for the loss when it comes to opponent level. The second question is: What are we asking them for? If it is simply a fight for the sake of a fight, I would say that’s not a justifiable reason. Because after Saturday night, haven’t they given us enough?
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