Larry Brown Sports

The main event between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua at UFC 139 in San Jose Saturday was one of the best MMA fights you will ever see. It doesn’t matter if the UFC on FOX was your intro to the sport, or if you have been a fan for years, this was a fight for the ages. If you missed the five round war that Henderson narrowly won, make sure you get to see it however you can.

I will warn you: if you’re uncomfortable with violence or are not a fan of good, competitive sport, it might not be for you.

This was two legends, two geniuses of combat, fighting with incredible heart and toughness, engaging in a back-and-forth, edge-of-your-seat performance that pushed each fighter beyond anything you can imagine. It was competitive all the way — I had Henderson winning three rounds to two, with one 10-8 round apiece.

Stylistically, the dangerous future Hall of Famer, Henderson, delivered significant punishment standing against the younger, more athletic Shogun. Hendo nearly finished the fight with his “H-Bomb” right hand in the third, before getting dominated in the fifth with brutal ground-and-pound from the mount. It’s hard to believe this fight could deliver such strong results when many pointed out beforehand it could have been a main event in PRIDE Fighting Championships five or six years ago.

Watching the fight live, I thought referee Josh Rosenthal could have stopped the fight in the third — we’re all glad he didn’t, in retrospect — but re-watching it, Shogun did defend himself intelligently despite the damage he took and letting the fight continue was the right call.

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It’s clear that the UFC anticipates Jon Bones Jones becoming the next star in the sport based on the way they’ve promoted him for his UFC 128 clash with Mauricio Shogun Rua. They aired a special on Jones on Spike TV Thursday called “In the Moment” showcasing Jonny’s path to the title. Did they do the same with Shogun? Not that I saw. They also made an impromptu decision to give Jones a title shot when Rashad Evans got hurt despite him having less than two months between fights.

It’s pretty clear that the UFC is hoping Jones wins so they can continue to market him, and there’s little doubt that Bones is an emerging star. But is he getting too overconfident prior to the fight?

We’ve talked before about Jonny’s mental approach to dehumanizing opponents before facing them in the ring. It’s a brilliant approach, and it certainly has resulted in success in the octagon. But does this mental approach include already signing autographs as “Jon Jones Champion 2011″ before he’s already won? If that’s just part of his mental visualization then I can understand it, but it also can be a sign that he’s too overconfident to the point he may not be properly prepared.

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