Date November 19, 2011 Total gate $1,268,000 | Venue HP Pavilion Attendance 13,832 | |
Promotion | ||
UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It was the first UFC event in San Jose, the longtime home and base arena for Strikeforce.
Contents
Background
UFC 139 featured two preliminary fights live on Spike TV.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez was originally expected to have his first title defense against Junior dos Santos at this event. However, on September 2, 2011, the UFC announced that fight would be moved to the inaugural UFC on Fox event.
Vitor Belfort was briefly linked to a matchup with Cung Le at this event. However, Belfort was removed from the bout and replaced by Wanderlei Silva.
Dana White announced that the winner of the main event between Rua and Henderson was possibly going to receive a title shot, but then stated in January 2012 that the winner Phil Davis vs. Rashad Evans at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis would receive the next title shot, because the then-champion: Jon Jones was unable to fight the winner of Rua and Henderson because they couldn't materialize the fight between Jones and the Rua vs. Henderson winner (at that time).
Johnny Eduardo was expected to face Michael McDonald at the event. However, Eduardo was forced from the card with a shoulder injury on November 4 and replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Soto.
It was initially suspected that the first Spike TV preliminary fight would feature Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman, but it became known that it was Michael McDonald fighting UFC newcomer Alex Soto instead.
During the official UFC 139 weigh ins, Shamar Bailey and Nick Pace failed to make the weight limit for their respective weight classes. Bailey came in 3 pounds over, while Pace came in six pounds over. Each fighter was fined 20 percent of their earnings and their bouts took at catchweights of 158 lbs and 141 lbs respectively.
Critical Reception
The event was well received by critics. The main event drew many accolades, including UFC President Dana White calling it "one of the top three best fights ever in MMA", later comparing the fight to the Thrilla in Manila. The fight would later garner numerous Fight of the Year awards.
Bonus awards
Fighters were awarded $70,000 bonuses.
Reported payout
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the California State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the UFC and also do not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.
^ Shamar Bailey and Nick Pace were reportedly fined 20 percent of their purse for failing to make the required weight for their respective fights. The CSAC's initial report did not include information on the penalty.