
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson earned “Fight of the Year” honors backĀ in 2011, for their 5-round war that took place at UFC 139 in San Jose, California.
After 25-minutes of non-stop action, Hendo got the judges nod in what many people deem to be the greatest fight in mixed martial arts history.
Since losing to Henderson, “Shogun” has gone 2-2 inside the octagon, his latest effort being a first-round KO of James Te Huna at December’s UFC event in Australia.
Meanwhile, since defeating Rua at UFC 139, Dan Henderson has been in a bit of a slump. The former Strikeforce and Pride champion has dropped 3 fights in a row, however, it’s worth noting that 2 of those losses came to former champs Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida by split-decision.
In his latest effort, HendoĀ suffered the first KO-loss of his career to none other thanĀ VitorĀ “The Phenom” Belfort.
At this weekend’s ‘UFC Fight Night 38’ event in Natal, Brazil, Henderson will beĀ aiming to get his career back on track by defeating “Shogun” for a second time.
When asked if he planned on changing anything from the first fight Hendo responded with the following:
“Not to punch myself out trying to finish him because heās hard to finish,” Henderson told MMAFighting.com. “Iāll take my shots a little better.”
However, the losses are not going to make Henderson play it safe:
“I donāt know if it affects my strategy at all,” said Hendo.Ā “Just make sure to control the fight a little bit better, making sure I donāt end up on the bottom.”
“In my mind, Iām not coming off three losses, but itās still three losses. I donāt want a fourth on that, for sure. In the first, Rashad, I felt should have gone other way. It was a close fight, itās not like I was beat up for three fights. Itās a little bit extra motivation, I guess, to make sure it doesnāt happen again, but it wonāt change my strategy in the fight.”
“Iām excited to come down here and fight. Iām already used to hear the (Brazilian) fans say Iām going to die, so I want to come down here and prove them wrong (laughs).”
“Iām capable of finishing him, but it doesnāt always happens when you want, so Iām ready to go five rounds. Iām excited about it.”
Who do you think will emerge victorious in the Hendo vs. Shogun rematch this weekend? Sound off Penn Nation!
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM