'UFC Fight Night 38: Shogun vs. Henderson' official for March 23 in Natal, Brazil
As expected, a light heavyweight rematch between MMA legends Mauricio “Shogun†Rua (22-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) and Dan Henderson (29-11 MMA, 6-5 UFC) will serve as the headliner of March’s UFC Fight Night 38, which will see the octagon touch down for the first time in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
UFC officials recently announced the long-rumored location of Ginasio Nelio Dias will indeed play host to the event, which takes place March 23 and sees a main card air on FOX Sports 1 following prelims that are expected to stream on UFC Fight Pass.
“Shogun†and Henderson first met in the main event of UFC 139 in November 2011. That fight, a unanimous decision win for Henderson, was regarded by many as 2011′s “Fight of the Year†because of its back-and-forth nature, with each fighter taking big momentum swings, and continuing to plod forward in the fourth and fifth rounds despite being visibly exhausted.
Rua in December snapped a two-fight skid when he knocked out James Te Huna in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 33 in Australia. He picked up “Knockout of the Night†honors for the stunning KO and got back in the win column after consecutive losses to Chael Sonnen and Alexander Gustafsson. Now he’ll be going after his first winning streak since 2009.
His most recent fight, a first-round head-kick knockout loss to Vitor Belfort in Brazil, was not only his third straight setback, it was the final fight on his UFC contract. Prior to the loss to Belfort, Henderson has split-decision losses to Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. In fact, his most recent win was the “Fight of the Night†victory over Rua, which at that point was his fourth straight win and his return to the UFC after three fights in Strikeforce, where he won the light heavyweight title.
