UFC 139 didn’t have a title fight as the main event, but the battle between Dan Henderson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua couldn’t have been any better.

The two competed in the first five-round non-title fight since the UFC added the new five-round rule to any main event, and in the end, Henderson managed to narrowly out-point Rua for a unanimous decision.

It appeared that Henderson would end the fight early as he landed some big right hands on Rua, but the former UFC champion survived and pushed the fight into the later rounds where Henderson became exhausted. The final seven minutes were all Rua, but it was too little, too late, as Henderson had done enough to win 48-47 on all three judges’ scorecards.

The win pushes Henderson into the top 5 of the UFC light heavyweight division, but an immediate rematch with Rua may be in order due to the reaction from the fans and UFC brass on the fight itself.

In the co-main event, Wanderlei Silva proved he is still dangerous as he beat Cung Le by TKO in the second round in a middleweight contest.

Early in the fight it looked as if Silva may not get out of the first round, as he took a number of big kicks and punches from Le, but he survived and then came out aggressive in the second round. Silva caught Le with a big right hand and then followed up with some devastating knees in the clinch that led to the stoppage.

While Silva still has a long way to go to be near the title picture, he still remains a relevant fighter in the UFC.

In bantamweight action, Urijah Faber defeated Brian Bowles by guillotine choke in the second round to earn another title shot at Dominick Cruz. Faber controlled the fight from the start, as his hand speed and diverse striking were too much for Bowles to deal with.

For complete UFC 139 results (courtesy of MMAMania.com), check out the jump.

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From HeavyMMA.com:

A long-awaited light heavyweight title fight between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Rashad Evans will now headline a UFC event on March 19 in Newark, New Jersey.

Currently titled UFC 129, the event could eventually become UFC 128 due to the cancellation of a planned event in Abu Dhabi on March 12. Officials were not able to secure a venue for the planned Middle East event.

A featherweight bout between Chad Mendes and Michihiro Omigawa is also planned for the event. Sources close to the UFC confirmed both bouts with Heavy.com on Wednesday. Sportsnet.ca first reported the rescheduling on Tuesday.

The co-main event will feature light heavyweight veteran Tito Ortiz taking on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In addition, Kurt Pellegrino also announced via Twitter on Wednesday that he’ll be taking on Gleison Tibau during the event.

Check out more MMA headlines.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay per-view today with UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun, which features five fights on the main card. Here is a breakdown of each fight and who I expect to win.

Light Heavyweight Championship – Lyoto Machida (15-0) vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (18-3): Machida has quickly emerged as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world due to his style of fighting. Machida has brought a true karate style to the octagon and made it look like a dominant way of fighting. His last two fights have been impressive victories over Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans to win the UFC title. Machida likes to counter-strike, which works well in this fight as Rua likes to push the pace and be the aggressive fighter. Rua has gotten better with each fight inside the cage, but today’s fight doesn’t bode well for him. Machida has quicker strikes and should be able to pick Rua apart to score a TKO victory in the third round over a gassed Rua.

Heavyweight Bout – Cain Velasquez (6-0) vs. Ben Rothwell (30-6) – The co-headliner features two heavyweight contenders. Velasquez is being groomed to be a threat to Brock Lesnar’s heavyweight title. The Mexican born fighter has used his wrestling background to dominate his opponents and use ground-and-pound striking to quickly end fights. His last fight, a decision win over Cheick Kongo, Velasquez was able to get Kongo to the ground and dictate the pacing of the fight. Velasquez was hit with some big punches in the fight and was tested for the first time, but passed the test. Rothwell was a former IFL heavyweight champion and has faced some tough opponents, but doesn’t have a real marquee win in his lengthy career. Rothwell can win with a big punch, but Velasquez is likely to get this fight to the ground, where he will control Rothwell and earn a decision or TKO victory.

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Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– Hulking heavyweight Alistair Overeem destroyed a completely outmatched opponent last weekend and plans on destroying an equally outmatched opponent this weekend.

– The two most emotionally-abused castmembers on “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” faced off Wednesday night, and coach Rashad Evans kept his historic winning streak alive.

– We demonstrated the difference between a ridiculously unnecessary sucker punch and a completely understandable one.

– The upstart Bellator MMA league is returning next April — with a massive television deal.

– We took a look at five MMA fights that happened too early.

– The UFC booked high-profile rematches between Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard, and Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves.

– We’re sad to report that UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida drinks his own pee. Nevertheless, he’ll be kicking Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s ass tonight at UFC 104 in Los Angeles. Check out our analysis of the card here, and swing by CagePotato.com at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT for our thrilling liveblog of the pay-per-view broadcast.

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– The young angry lion took out the old braces-wearing lion at Strikeforce’s kickass “Shamrock vs. Diaz” event. In the aftermath, Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos lost some respect and Nick Diaz thinks he’s ready to box Roy Jones Jr.

– Junie Browning’s even dumber and drunker brother Rob left The Ultimate Fighter as quickly as he arrived. And everyone rejoiced.

– Speaking of MMA on TV, “Bully Beatdown” may be as fake as “The Hills.”

– Tickets to the UFC’s historic 100th show sold out in a matter of hours. Scalped tickets are going for up to $24,000. Seriously.

– Sorry Chuck, but if your biggest problem is all the porn stars trying to party with you to advance their own careers, you don’t have that many problems.

– Bellator Fighting Championships: The most interesting MMA league that nobody seems to care about.

– Tune in to CagePotato.com tomorrow night starting at 10 p.m. ET for live results of UFC 97: Redemption. Will Mauricio “Shogun” Rua show up in shape for his do-or-die fight against Chuck Liddell? Does Thales Leites have a chance in hell of stealing the middleweight belt from Anderson Silva? Are there any other fights on this card genuinely worth getting exciting about?

– Also, if you want to win a DVD of “Never Surrender” (starring BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and Anderson Silva), enter our latest caption contest!