UFC 139 Predictions: Career Defining Moment for Every Main Card Fighter

As UFC 139 quickly approaches, UFC fans across the globe sit and wait for what has potential to be one of the most exciting fight cards of the entire year.

UFC 139 will air live on national pay-per-view television from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on November 19th, 2011.

The main card will be headlined around former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua who will take on one of mixed martial arts' hardest hitters, Dan Henderson.

While UFC 139's fighters have made it to the highest stage in mixed martial arts, there was that one career defining moment that altered their paths for the better.

The following slides display the career defining moment for each fighter on the main card at UFC 139.

Lets take a look.

Stephan Bonnar

Stephan Bonnar's career defining moment came a little differently than for most fighters, as he found himself fighting for the Ultimate Fighter 1 crown against Forrest Griffin in April of 2005.

In an absolute slug-fest, Bonnar and Griffin exchanged strikes for three consecutive rounds before the final bell ended their historical bout.

While Bonnar would go on to lose via unanimous decision, his efforts would be good enough to have earned him a six figure contract with the UFC.

Bonnar's fight would also go on to be the Fight of the Year and one of the greatest of all-time.

Kyle Kingsbury

While Kyle Kingsbury may have fallen short in his UFC debut to Tom Lawlor, he is currently on the best stretch of his mixed martial arts career.

And, while many fans feel that Kingsbury could have several career defining moments, few live up to his bout with Fabio Maldonado at the Ultimate Fighter Season 13 Finale.

In an all-out brawl, Kingsbury was declared victorious via unanimous decision and took home Fight of the Night honors.

It was Kingsbury's fourth consecutive win and earned him a spot of UFC 139's main card.

Martin Kampmann

Martin Kampmann entered the sport of mixed martial arts in February of 2003 and won 13 of his first 14 fights.

However, none came bigger than his victory over Carlos Condit at a UFC Fight Night in April of 2009.

After three brutal rounds, Kampmann was declared victorious via controversial split decision.

Regardless of the decision, it was certainly the biggest win of Kampmann's career and has become his career defining moment.

Rick Story

Rick Story was on a fast track to the top of the UFC welterweight division after winning six consecutive fights.

However, Story was upset by Charlie Brenneman at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry on June 26th, 2011.

And, while Story certainly has some notable wins over Jake Ellenberger, Dustin Hazelett and Johny Hendricks, none came bigger than his victory over Thiago Alves.

Many didn't give Story the benefit of the doubt as Alves was coming off the best run of his mixed martial arts career.

None the less, Story was declared victorious via unanimous decision.

Urijah Faber

Urijah Faber is one of the most recognized fighters in any organization of mixed martial arts.

Faber has squared off with some of the world's greatest fighters and is a former WEC featherweight champion.

Many fans consider Faber's victory over Cole Escovedo to be his career defining moment as he captured the featherweight title.

But, it was Faber's victory over current UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz that has left a lasting impact on his career.

Faber submitted Cruz via Guillotine Choke just 1:38 into the very first round.

Brian Bowles

Brian Bowles has been nearly flawless since entering the sport of mixed martial arts in May of 2006.

After winning seven consecutive fights, Bowles earned himself a WEC bantamweight title shot against Miguel Torres at WEC 42.

At the time, Torres was 36-1 and had won 17 consecutive fights.

But, that streak came to an end when he found himself in a first round slug-fest with Bowles.

At 3:57 of the first frame, Bowles was declared the new champion via knockout by punches.

Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva has been fighting in the sport of mixed martial arts for as long as most of us can remember.

The mixed martial arts legend has recorded 33 total wins over the course of his long-lived career but none were more meaningful than his bout with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at Pride 28 in October of 2004.

In one of the greatest fights of all-time, Silva and Jackson exchanged strikes, take downs and everything above the entire first round.

In Round 2, Silva connected on huge knees that immediately dropped Jackson to the ground.

Silva had successfully defended his Pride middleweight championship and went on to be honored with Fight of the Year.

Cung Le

Cung Le entered the sport of mixed martial arts after pursuing a career as a professional kick boxer.

But for Le, the transition wasn't extremely difficult as he found himself sitting with a perfect 5-0 record leading up to his championship bout with Frank Shamrock at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le.

While Shamrock was the first Strikeforce middleweight champion, he didn't even have the opportunity to defend his title as Le finished him in the third round.

In fact, not only did Le finish Shamrock, but he broke his arm, ultimately resulting in his career defining moment.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Similar to Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has been around the sport of mixed martial arts for as long as most of us can remember.

And, while Rua is one of the most recognized UFC fighters of all-time, his career defining moment came during his days in Pride.

While "Shogun" was declared victorious over the likes of Alistair Overeem and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, it's hard to compare any to his defeat over Ricardo Arona.

In one of the most anticipated bouts of 2005, Rua defeated Arona via knockout by punches and won the Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Championship.

Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson entered the sport of mixed martial arts in June of 1997 and is still fighting to this very day.

Over the course of his long-lived career, Henderson has defeated some of the world's greatest fighters in Vitor Belfort, Renzo Gracie, Rich Franklin and Fedor Emelianenko.

But, few came bigger than when he stepped foot inside the ring to take on Wanderlei Silva at Pride 33 in February of 2007.

It took three rounds to fight off one of the world's most dangerous strikers as Henderson finished Silva at 2:08 of the third round.

Henderson went on to be declared the Pride Middleweight champion and set in stone his career defining moment.