UFC 139

Background

UFC 139 featured two preliminary fights live on Spike TV.

UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez was originally expected to have his first title defense against Junior dos Santos at this event. However, on September 2, 2011, the UFC announced that fight would be moved to the inaugural UFC on Fox event.

To fill in the vacancy left by Cain vs dos Santos, Dana White confirmed on September 20, 2011 that Dan Henderson had re-signed with the UFC and would fight Maurício "Shogun" Rua for the main event.{{cite news |url=https://www.mmafighting.com/2011/09/21/dana-white-confirms-dan-henderson-vs-shogun-rua-at-ufc-139|title=Dana White Confirms Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua at UFC 139

Vitor Belfort was briefly linked to a matchup with Cung Le at this event. However, Belfort was removed from the bout and replaced by Wanderlei Silva.

Johnny Eduardo was expected to face Michael McDonald at the event. However, Eduardo was forced from the card with a shoulder injury on November 4 and replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Soto.

It was initially suspected that the first Spike TV preliminary fight would feature Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman, but it became known that it was Michael McDonald fighting UFC newcomer Alex Soto instead.

During the official UFC 139 weigh ins, Shamar Bailey and Nick Pace failed to make the weight limit for their respective weight classes. Bailey came in 3 pounds over, while Pace came in six pounds over. Each fighter was fined 20 percent of their earnings and their bouts took at catchweights of 158 lb and 141 lb respectively.

Results

|Light Heavyweight |Dan Henderson |def. |Maurício Rua |Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 48–47) |5 |5:00 | |Middleweight |Wanderlei Silva |def. |Cung Le |TKO (knees and punches) |2 |4:49 | |Bantamweight |Urijah Faber |def. |Brian Bowles |Submission (guillotine choke) |2 |1:27 |UFC Bantamweight Championship title eliminator. |Welterweight |Martin Kampmann |def. |Rick Story |Decision (split) (30–27, 28-29, 29-28) |3 |5:00 | |Light Heavyweight |Stephan Bonnar |def. |Kyle Kingsbury |Decision (unanimous) (30–25, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Light Heavyweight |Ryan Bader |def. |Jason Brilz |KO (punch) |1 |1:17 | |Bantamweight |Michael McDonald |def. |Alex Soto |KO (punches) |1 |0:56 | |Middleweight |Chris Weidman |def. |Tom Lawlor |Technical Submission (D'Arce choke) |1 |2:07 | |Lightweight |Gleison Tibau |def. |Rafael dos Anjos |Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Catchweight (141 lb) |Miguel Torres |def. |Nick Pace |Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) |3 |5:00 | |Welterweight |Seth Baczynski |def. |Matt Brown |Submission (guillotine choke) |2 |0:42 | |Catchweight (158 lb) |Danny Castillo |def. |Shamar Bailey |TKO (punches) |1 |4:52 |

Critical reception

The event was well received by critics. The main event drew many accolades, including UFC President Dana White calling it "one of the top three best fights ever in MMA", later comparing the fight to the Thrilla in Manila. The fight would later garner numerous Fight of the Year awards. The fight was later included in the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018.

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $70,000 bonuses.

• Fight of the Night: Maurício Rua vs. Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le
• Knockout of the Night: Michael McDonald
• Submission of the Night: Urijah Faber

Reported payout

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the California State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the UFC and also do not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.

• Dan Henderson: $250,000 (no win bonus) def. Maurício Rua: $165,000
• Wanderlei Silva: $200,000 (no win bonus) def. Cung Le: $350,000
• Urijah Faber: $64,000 ($32,000 win bonus) def. Brian Bowles: $19,000
• Martin Kampmann: $58,000 ($29,000 win bonus) def. Rick Story: $19,000
• Stephan Bonnar: $68,000 ($34,000 win bonus) def. Kyle Kingsbury: $10,000
• Ryan Bader: $48,000 ($24,000 win bonus) def. Jason Brilz: $13,000
• Michael McDonald: $14,000 ($7,000 win bonus) def. Alex Soto: $6,000
• Chris Weidman: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus) def. Tom Lawlor: $12,000
• Gleison Tibau: $54,000 ($27,000 win bonus) def. Rafael dos Anjos: $16,000
• Miguel Torres: $60,000 ($30,000 win bonus) def. Nick Pace: $4,000 ^
• Seth Baczynski: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Matt Brown: $12,000
• Danny Castillo: $34,000 ($17,000 win bonus) def. Shamar Bailey: $8,000 ^

^ Shamar Bailey and Nick Pace were reportedly fined 20 percent of their purse for failing to make the required weight for their respective fights. The CSAC's initial report did not include information on the penalty.

References

References

1. (November 21, 2011). "UFC 139 officially draws 13,832 attendance and $1.27 million gate". [[MMAjunkie.com]].
2. "Pay-per-view : MMAPayout.com: The Business of MMA". MMAPayout.com.
3. (September 28, 2011). "UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson". ufc.com.
4. Stupp, Dann. (August 23, 2011). "UFC 139 gets "UFC Prelims" special on Spike TV". [[MMAjunkie.com]].
5. (August 4, 2011). "Cain Velasquez Set to Defend UFC Title vs. Junior Dos Santos at UFC 139". mmafighting.com.
6. (September 2, 2011). "Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos headlines UFC's debut on FOX". mmajunkie.com.
7. (September 21, 2011). "Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua Winner Gets Next Shot at the Title after Rashad Evans". mmaweekly.com.
8. "Vitor Belfort says he's fighting Cung Le at UFC 139 in San Jose". mmajunkie.com.
9. "UFC 139 shakeup: Vitor Belfort out, Wanderlei Silva in against Cung Le". mmajunkie.com.
10. "UFC 139 adds McDonald-Eduardo bout, Torres-Pace confirmed for San Jose event". mmajunkie.com.
11. "Johnny Eduardo scratched from UFC 139, replacement search underway". mmajunkie.com.
12. "Newcomer Alex Soto meets Michael McDonald at next week's UFC 139 event". mmajunkie.com.
13. (14 November 2011). "After Reshuffling, UFC 139 Spike Prelims to Feature Bader vs. Brilz, McDonald vs. Soto". mmafighting.com.
14. (November 18, 2011). "UFC 139 official weigh-in results: Henderson (203), 'Shogun' (205) on weight (Updated)". MMAJunkie.com.
15. (20 November 2011). "Henderson hangs on to decision Rua at UFC 139".
16. "MMA's own Thrilla in Manila was a draw - White".
17. "ESPN.com MMA awards for 2011".
18. "2011 Brawl Sports Awards: Fight of the Year".
19. (24 December 2011). "Fight of the Year: Dan Henderson vs. 'Shogun' Rua".
20. Raimondi, Marc. (2018-05-12). "Dan Henderson vs. 'Shogun' Rua I to be inducted into UFC Hall of Fame".
21. (2010-11-20). "UFC 139 bonuses: McDonald, Faber, Henderson, 'Shogun,' Silva, Le earn $70K awards". mmajunkie.com.
22. (November 21, 2010). "UFC 139 salaries: Le ($350K) and Henderson ($250K) top fighter payroll". mmajunkie.com.