Henderson to fight Rua in return to UFC

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO -- Former light-heavyweight champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua will take on Strikeforce title-holder Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 139 in San Jose.

The Nov. 19 card at the HP Pavilion will also feature a middleweight bout between former Strikeforce champion Cung Le and veteran Brazilian Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva.

The 40-year-old Henderson stopped Russian star Fedor Emelianenko in July in the last fight on his Strikeforce contract.

Henderson (28-8) fought in Pride and the UFC before moving to Strikeforce after being unable to come to terms with the UFC. Strikeforce was subsequently bought by the UFC's parent company.

Rua (20-5) defeated Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 in Brazil in August in his comeback fight since losing the title to Jon (Bones) Jones.

Le (7-1) was slated to face Vitor Belfort but the Brazilian was forced to pull out through injury.

Belfort said via Twitter that the injury was "nothing major" but needs four weeks of intense physio. He expects to be ready to fight in December.

The 39-year-old Le has not fought since June 2010, when he stopped Scott Smith, and has focused on a movie career.

The 35-year-old Silva (33-11-1 with one no contest) was knocked out by Chris (The Crippler) Leben at UFC 132 in July.

Also in San Jose, bantamweights Urijah Faber meets Brian Bowles in a battle of former WEC champions.

In light-heavyweight action on the card, Stephan Bonnar faces Kyle Kingsbury and Jason (Hitman) Brilz tackles Ryan (Darth) Bader.

Welterweight Rick (The Horror) Story fights Martin (The Hitman) Kampmann while Rafael Dos Anjos takes on fellow Brazilian lightweight Gleison Tibau.

And middleweight Chris Weidman meets (Filthy) Tom Lawlor.