UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson marks the UFC's first event ever in San Jose, and just one of very few events in the Bay Area thus far. The promotion has previously been to Oakland, namely for UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen, but since San Jose and the HP Pavilion had served as the home base for the Strikeforce organization for a number of years, the UFC had never secured an event in the city.
The card promises fireworks throughout, but especially so in the main event between PRIDE legends Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The two fighters boast 48 wins between them, with 30 of those wins coming via knockout. Henderson is coming off a TKO victory over one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time in Fedor Emelianenko, while "Shogun" just dusted former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin in 1:53 in his last fight.
On top of that, the card features a co-main event of Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le, the latter of which has fought in California multiple times, and is based in San Jose. Other fighters with California ties include Urijah Faber, Kyle Kingsbury, Danny Castillo, Michael McDonald and Alex Soto.
UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson fight card:
Main Card
Mauricio "Shogun Rua (20-5) vs. Dan Henderson (28-8)
Wanderlei Silva (33-11-1, 1 NC) vs. Cung Le (7-1)
Urijah Faber (25-5) vs. Brian Bowles (10-1)
Martin Kampmann (17-5) vs. Rick Story (13-4)
Stephan Bonnar (13-7) vs. Kyle Kingsbury (11-1, 1 NC)
Prelimary Card (Spike TV)
Ryan Bader (12-2) vs. Jason Brilz (18-4-1)
Michael McDonald (13-1) vs. Alex Soto (6-0-1)
Preliminary Card
Gleison Tibau (23-7) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (15-5)
Miguel Torres (38-4) vs. Nick Pace (6-2)
Tom Lawlor (7-3, 1 NC) vs. Chris Weidman (6-0)
Matt Brown (12-10) vs. Seth Baczynski (14-8)
Shamar Bailey (12-4) vs. Danny Castillo (11-4)