UFC 139 Predictions: Dan Henderson Will KO Mauricio Rua Early

UFC 139 will set it off with a match between Dan "Hendo" Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, as the two will have a battle for the ages in this one.

Yet, it will be Henderson that will get the best of Rua, and will jump out on top with an early KO to end the match.

There are several factors that play into the favor of Hendo in this showdown.

For one, Hendo has never been taken down by KO his entire career, as Shogun knows and plans to try to beat him with relentless, consistent attack throughout the match.

Henderson has also been on a tear as of late, winning six of his last seven fights since the loss to Anderson Silva in UFC 82's "Pride of a Champion." Of those six wins, four have TKO or KOs, as Hendo looks strong heading into the big fight.

Rua on the other hand, despite winning with KO or TKOs in his last five wins, has also lost two of his last four matches.

The two losses would come to both Lyoto Machida and Jon Jones, with Jones sending him off with a TKO. Although both are two of the better fighters in this game, this spells a load of trouble for Rua heading into the big match against Henderson.

At Henderson's age of 41, it will be tough to sustain consistency in his punches for the entire fight, as Rua knows the longer the match goes, the more of an advantage he has. As a result, it will be Henderson attacking big early, essentially risking it all in the first couple of rounds.

There is no question—with firepower Henderson has and is riding a three-fight win streak—that Henderson will take down Rua early in what should be an entertaining match for fans to say the least.