UFC 139 Predictions: Why Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva Will Lose

Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva return to the Octagon at UFC 139 with victory and redemption on their respective minds. Nonetheless, I reckon it won’t be a great night for the former Pride champions.

“H-Bomb” wants to make a successful return to the UFC after a flourishing 3-1 record at Strikeforce, which was recently acquired by the Zuffa-based company.

On the other hand, Silva is seeking redemption after he was steamrolled by Chris “The Crippler” Leben at UFC 132.

The return of “Hendo” and the redemption for Silva will go awry at UFC 139.

Dan Henderson

Record: 28-8

Age: 41

Height: 5’11”

Nationality: American

Notable wins: Antônio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Renato Sobral, Renzo Gracie, Ryo Chonan (famed for submitting Anderson Silva via flying scissor heel hook), Kazou Misaki, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping, Rafael Cavalcante and Fedor Emelianenko

Notable losses: Wanderlei Silva, Antônio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Antônio Rogério “Little Nog” Nogueira, Kazou Misaki, Quinton Jackson, Anderson Silva and Jake Shields

Dan Henderson is hoping for a fairytale return to the Octagon at UFC 139, and with that, a shot at the UFC light heavyweight crown.

There is, however, that little problem of getting past a man who has plans of his own and is intent on making Hendo’s return an unsuccessful one.

Step up Maurício “Shogun” Rua, the former UFC light heavyweight champion who was brutally upended by current champion Jon “Bones” Jones at UFC 128.

Since that defeat, Shogun has gone on to register a win against Forrest Griffin, and he’ll want to continue that ascendancy to the UFC light heavyweight throne.

Throughout all their time in Pride, neither Hendo nor Shogun ever faced the other.

That will all change come fight night at UFC 139.

Hendo, an accomplished Greco-Roman styled wrestler with his “H-Bomb” at his disposal, is a threat to any fighter in any division.

That has been evident all through his career; he demolished Rafael Cavalcante to capture the Strikeforce light heavy title and rocked the MMA world with his destruction of the once insuperable Fedor Emelianenko.

Be that as it may, his trademark punch can be nullified as witnessed against Jake Shields.

And besides, Shogun has never been put to sleep. Of his two TKO losses, one was due to injury, and the other was down relentless strikes.

I expect Shogun to use his Muay Thai to keep Hendo and his H-Bomb at bay with leg strikes and body and head kicks.

If the fight goes to the ground and Shogun can cancel out the ensuing onslaught, he can put his Jiu-Jitsu to good use. (I know he’s only had one submission win in his entire career, but what better time pull it out of his bag of tricks?)

Another thing in Shogun’s favour is the fact that this a five-round fight.

And if it goes into the latter rounds, given Hendo’s age and lack of cardio, I expect Shogun to have the upper hand.

I expect this fight to be a stand and bang affair, and even though Hendo is a Trojan with a head and chin made of granite, I see him losing for the first time in his career via TKO or KO.

Wanderlei Silva

Record: 33-11-1-(1)

Age: 35

Height: 5’11”

Nationality: Brazilian

Notable wins: Eugene Jackson, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba (thrice), Hidehiko Yoshida, Quinton Jackson (twice), Ikuhisa Minowa, Yuki Kondo, Ricardo Arona, Kazuyuki Fujita, Keith Jardine and Michael Bisping.

Notable losses: Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Mark Hunt, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Filipović, Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Rich Franklin and Chris Leben

Silva wants redemption. In fact, he needs a sizeable amount of redemption; two fights removed from his debut at UFC 79, he was a victim of a vicious head kick KO courtesy of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović and a detonated H-Bomb.

His first foray into the Octagon failed to bare fruition, as he lost to Chuck “The Ice Man” Liddell via unanimous decision.

The gist of Silva’s UFC career is he has a record of 2-4 in the Octagon.

Two of the losses were a result of violent KO’s at the hands of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Chris “Crippler” Leben.

It’s such a woeful record coming from a combatant who once struck fear into the hearts of men during his Pride days—a man whose stare was as ferocious as the beat-downs he administered to his unsuspecting opponents.

His GBH-esque assaults on a helpless Rampage at Pride Final Conflict 2003 and Pride 28 was the stuff only a warrior with the sobriquet “The Axe Murderer” could mete out.

Unfortunately, those days are distant memories, but great memories nonetheless.

The feared assassin is no more. His chin resistance has failed him due to his stand-and-bang approach to the sport.

For some reason, Silva has failed to change with the times, and thus, finds himself a relic in apropos to the evolution of the sport and the new breed of fighters it has produced.

In a nutshell, Silva’s style of fighting is one-dimensional.

At UFC 139 he’s slated to throw down with Cung “The Highlight Reel” Le.

The mixed martial artist makes his debut for the UFC outfit after relinquishing his Strikeforce middleweight title to pursue his budding acting career.

Le is a seasoned kick boxer with submission and wrestling skills, and is bound to make an impact in the UFC.

The fight itself, if Silva has anything to do about it, will remain standing.

If Silva comes out throwing hell for leather as he did against Leben, his night will be over before you can blink.

Nevertheless, regardless of his approach on fight night, I can’t see Silva being victorious. Silva will bring it as he always does, but Le will overwhelm him with his punches and devastating kicks.

The swansong of the storied career of The Axe Murderer will end in brutal knockout fashion at UFC 139.