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.

UFC 139 Results

Saturday, Nov. 19

HP Pavilion, San Jose, California

205 lbs.: Dan Henderson defeats Mauricio Rua via Unanimous Decision

185 lbs.: Wanderlei Silva defeats Cung Le via TKO (Strikes) Round 2

135 lbs.: Urijah Faber defeats Brian Bowles via Submission (Guillotine Choke) Round 2

205 lbs.: Stephan Bonnar defeats Kyle Kingsbury via Unanimous Decision

170 lbs.: Martin Kampmann defeats Rick Story via Split Decision

205 lbs.: Ryan Bader defeats Jason Brilz via TKO (Strikes) Round 1

135 lbs.: Michael McDonald defeats Alex Soto via TKO (Strikes) Round 1

185 lbs.: Chris Weidman def Tom Lawlor via submission (d’arce choke) at 2:07 of round one

155 lbs.: Gleison Tibau def Rafael Dos Anjos via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

135 lbs.: Miguel Torres def Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27 by all three judges)

170 lbs.: Seth Baczynski def Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:42 of round two

155 lbs.: Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (strikes) at 4:52 of round one

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.

Lightweight Bout – Joe Stevenson (35-10) vs. Spencer Fisher (24-4) – Joe Stevenson is somewhat a gate-keeper in the division, as he has beat some of the best in the division, but not been able to beat the elite fighters to make himself a champion. Fisher is a step below, where he has beaten lower-tier fighters, but never been able to break into main event or even co-headline status. In today’s fight, I expect Stevenson to out-class Fisher as Stevenson is working with Greg Jackson now to evolve his style, while Fisher has always been more-or-less the same fighter. Stevenson will score the takedowns and work his way to a decision win over Fisher.

Lightweight Bout – Gleison Tibau (29-6) vs. Josh Neer (25-8-1) – These two lightweights are examples of guys that are tough and quality fighters, but will likely never contend for the title or make a serious run at it. Tibau is a strong fighter with great jiu jitsu skills but doesn’t have the striking. Neer is a very tough fighter that has skills in every area, but can’t avoid takedowns and doesn’t have the striking skills to compete with the top fighters in this division. In this fight, Tibau will have the size and speed to score takedowns and will not be submitted by Neer, in my opinion. Look for Tibau to get a decision win.
Welterweight Bout – Anthony Johnson (7-2) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3) – Anthony Johnson is a physical specimen that has all of the athletic skills to be a great fighter, but he is still maturing and evolving his ground game. Yoshida is a well-rounded fighter, but like many others, isn’t at the elite level. A win for Johnson would be the biggest of his career to this point, while Yoshida is looking to get back in the contender mix after getting knocked out cold last December by Josh Koscheck. Yoshida can win this fight if he gets Johnson on his back, but that seems to be the only way he can win. Johnson seems to have the better package and I would expect to see him land a big punch that leads to a TKO finish in the second round.

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!

– Unless he has a great performance against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua next month, the UFC might not want Chuck Liddell to fight for them anymore.

– “King Mo” ruled and L.C. Davis got handled by a scrub at Sengoku: Seventh Battle. You can watch some of the fight videos here.

– Former UFC light-heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz and porn legend Jenna Jameson just had twins.

– After testing positive for three different unapproved painkillers following UFC 94, the Nevada State Athletic Commission smacked Karo Parisyan with a nine-month suspension, a $32,000 fine, and voided his last win.

– We looked at a one-legged mixed martial artist and a sexy Arianny Celeste magazine shoot.

– The full fighter roster for the “UFC 2009 Undisputed” video game was released. But where’s Randy?

– Denied justice in the “Lubrigate” scandal, BJ Penn may be starting a cult at his shadowy island fortress.

– If you have absolutely nothing going on Saturday night, why not watch former WWE star Bobby Lashley beat the bejesus out of Clay Guida’s brother at “March Badness”? Roy Jones Jr. will also be boxing in the main event. (You remember boxing, right? It’s like MMA, except you only get to throw punches, and you have to wear these weird pillow-things on your hands. And there’s no choking!)

– In the aftermath of UFC 93, it was announced that Dan Henderson will coach opposite Michael Bisping on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, Quinton Jackson will fight Keith Jardine in March, and Chuck Liddell will take on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in April.

– Remember Jeff Monson, the former UFC fighter who was busted last week for anarchist graffiti? Well, he was arrested again for destroying his girlfriend’s grandfather clock when she discovered he had two wives. The good news is, one lucky prison will be getting a new grappling champion.

– UFC ring girls Arianny Celeste and Ali Sonoma were photographed in very little clothing. (Photos possibly NSFW, and absolutely AMAZING.)

– The battle to legalize MMA in New York is being stalled by one idiot assemblyman.

– BJ Penn may have gone AWOL from the UFC’s new multi-million-dollar reality show.

– Brock Lesnar has a Facebook page, apparently. And according to a recent status update, he’ll be having his heavyweight championship rematch with Frank Mir at UFC 98 (May 23rd, Las Vegas). Great profile pic, bro.

– “Affliction: Day of Reckoning” goes down tomorrow in Anaheim, California. CagePotato.com will be liveblogging the pay-per-view broadcast beginning at 9 p.m. ET. For a preview of the action, check out this documentary on headliner Fedor Emelianenko, this in-depth discussion of the event and the promotion’s future, and some sound betting advice.

– Or, you could spend your Saturday night watching Danny Bonaduce vs. Jose Conseco instead.