UFC 139 comes to the HP Pavilion in San Jose this weekend with a talent-stacked card, headlined by light heavyweights Mauricio Rua and Dan Henderson. It will be Henderson’s first fight in the Octagon since he gave Michael Bisping an extra “love tap” after knocking him out in UFC 100. Following that event, Henderson left UFC to dominate Strikeforce with wins over Renato Sobral, Rafael Cavalcante and Fedor Emelianenko—while Rua went 3-3 in his last six contests. Look for an aggressive fight, especially after Rua’s statement earlier this week that he would like to knock Henderson out.
Another highly anticipated UFC 139 battle will be between Pride champ Wanderlei Silva and former Strikeforce champ Cung Le. UFC 139 will mark Le’s debut in the Octagon and his first fight in more than a year. Although Le has a record of 7-1 and Silva is coming off a first-round loss to Chris Leben, look for a tight fight, as many analysts agree Le has not faced the level of competition Silva has.
Bantamweights Urijah Faber and Brian Bowles will also square off for a chance to take on Dominick Cruz for the championship. Bowles, who comes in at 10-1, with only one victory in his last eight coming down to a decision, should have all he can handle against former WEC champ Faber, who has gone 2-1 since dropping down to 135 pounds.
Rounding out the card: a welterweight bout between Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann and Rick “The Horror” Story and a light heavyweight clash between Stephan Bonnar and Kyle Kingsbury. Catch the main card Nov. 19 at 9 p.m. EST on Pay-Per-View, a preliminary card at 8 p.m. EST on Spike TV and five more preliminary fights on Facebook.
Photo:  ticketmaster.com