Five huge questions heading into UFC 139: Shogun vs. Hendo

It seems like the action never stops here at Pro MMA Now as we wrapped up coverage of UFC on FOX, and head into the UFC 139: Shogun vs. Hendo event that takes place this weekend. This is a solid event on paper with plenty of former champions on the card. Lots of questions heading into this one with some more obvious than others. Let’s get right to them.

• Is the winner of Shogun Rua/Dan Henderson a legit threat to challenge Jon Jones?

That’s the word that the winner of this fight will fight Jon Jones for his title, provided that Jon Jones takes out Lyoto Machida next month. Many people feel that Rua wasn’t 100% when he fought Jones earlier this year and that a healthy Rua would put up a better fight. I’m not of that opinion because I believe that Jones is just a bad matchup stylistically for Rua. However, I do believe that Dan Henderson has a style that could pose problems for Jones. He has KO power, isn’t a counterpuncher, has good Grec0-Roman wrestling, and has a iron chin. Rua/Henderson should be a great fight.

• Will this be the last time we see Wanderlei Silva in the octagon?

It’s hard to believe Silva has fallen off so fast, but that’s the price fighters pay when fighting with the type of style that Silva uses. He’ll be facing a guy in Cung Le that hasn’t fought in over a year, but is tricky with his strikes. Silva will have to be very careful as Le has KO power, and frankly it doesn’t take much to rock Silva nowadays. When odds makers have Silva as the underdog in this fight, you know they are weary of Silva’s chin and inability to take a good strike. Silva is the one of the last of the older pioneers, it would be horrible to see him go out looking at the lights with his back on the canvas. It could happen though.

• Does the winner of Urijah Faber/Brian Bowles get a title shot against Dominick Cruz?

At first wasn’t going to ask this one, but it makes sense after thinking about it. Cruz has a short list of interesting fights out there with Renan Barao topping  the list after making waves at UFC 138. We definitely will see Cruz/Faber III at some point. Bowles deserves a rematch with Cruz somewhat with the way he lost the first time in my opinion. A win for Bowles would be three straight.

• Will the loser of Ryan Bader vs. Jason Brilz a candidate to be cut from the UFC?

These two guys are talented but have had some tough luck along the way as well. Bader ran into the buzzsaw known as Jon Jones, and then proceeded to give Tito Ortiz a new life in the UFC by losing to him. Jason Brilz had the fight of his life against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira only to lose a split decision, and then got destoyed by Vladimir Matyushenko via KO. So both fighters are looking at three losses in a row going into this fight. I wonder if either will fight tentatively with so much on the line?

• Will middleweight prospect Chris Weidman continue his rise up the ranks with a win over Tom Lawlor?

Weidman now has two wins inside the octagon and will be looking for his seventh win overall. Lawlor is coming off a win over former title challenger Patrick Cote. It’ll be a good test for Weidman as Lawlor is has improved quite a bit since his days on The Ultimate Fighter.

Random Notes

-It’s hard to believe that former bantamweight champion Miguel Torres is now fighting on the prelims at 3o years old.

–Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann is going to be an absolute war.

-Watch out for Raphael dos Anjos vs. Gleison Tibau on the preliminary card.