The MMAnalysis

Earlier last week, Dan Henderson was asked what he thought the difference would be fighting in a five-round non-title fight in the main event of UFC 139 instead a three-rounder.

"Two rounds," Henderson said jokingly.

On Saturday night, it was much more than that. Those extra two rounds against Mauricio (Shogun) Rua turned a very, very good scrap into what UFC president Dana White called "one of the top three fights of all-time."

One of those fights was the Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar three-round slugfest that crowned Griffin the first Ultimate Fighter and opened many new fans' eyes to MMA. The Octagon has seen plenty of epic contests since -- many including Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva, whose knockout win Saturday over UFC newcomer Cung Le was entertaining enough to force White to give them a fight of the night bonus as well as the Hendo-Shogun headliner.

But the first non-title fight in UFC history to see the fourth and fifth rounds -- formerly referred to as the championship rounds -- was something else.

"That was our Ali-Frazier 3," White said in the post-fight press conference.

It was a back-and-forth battle -- or forth-and-back, depending on whose perspective it was. Henderson, the former Pride champion in two weight classes and incoming Strikeforce 205-pound title-holder who has yet to ever wear UFC gold, basically dominated the first three rounds, coming incredibly close to putting away the former UFC light-heavyweight belt-holder. The referee could have easily stopped the fight in the third from the onslaught Henderson was unleashing on Rua, and it appeared Rua was close to fading away.

But Rua survived, rallied, and from the start of the fourth round seemed to find an extra gear while Henderson was gassed. Rua easily won the round and then completely dominated the fifth in what many thought could easily have been scored a 10-8 round, which may have resulted in a draw.

According to FightMetric, Shogun outstruck Henderson 79 to 8 and 26 to 0 in significant strikes in the final five minutes, while spending basically the entire frame in full mount after securing the only takedown.

Henderson held the striking edge in each of the first three rounds, though only slightly, to easily earn him a 10-9 score in each. Rua reversed the trend in the fourth and was 3-for-3 in takedown attempts to give him a 10-9, according to all three judges. So it came down to the fifth.

Myself, as well as White, FightMetric, and many in the Twitterverse, scored it 10-8 for what would have been a 47-47 draw. But the judges, as well as other media and Twitter posters, only awarded Rua a 10-9, giving Henderson a 48-47 unanimous decision win. Perhaps they felt the damage Rua was doing was not devastating -- and they would be right. However, keeping the dominant position the whole time, landing the shots that he did, and suffering basically zero damage himself should have made a 10-8 appropriate.

Perhaps the judges -- subconsciously or otherwise -- didn't want to see such a tremendous fight finish in a "tie." On the other hand, considering how close it was, perhaps that would have been more appropriate.

What's most interesting is the fact that if you look at the fight as a whole, Rua had the significant edge in striking and five times the number of takedowns and by the end of the five rounds certainly seemed like the more dominant fighter. FightMetric gave him a slightly higher performance rating (60-57), effectiveness score (581-489) and awarded him the win if not using the 10-point must scoring system.

But Henderson had the closest chance to end the fight. (Although, Shogun may have blown his best opportunity in the fourth, giving up the full mount late in the round when he had a very good chance to finish the fight with his ground and pound to instead try for a rear naked choke, which was an unlikely proposition considering how slippery they were from sweat and blood and how tired he was at that point.) The fact that the fight was five rounds and not three could have ended up costing Henderson the victory, because he was definitely up after three.

But in the end, it didn't. And with the win, Henderson immediately tweeted his desire for a title shot right away. His skill and determination notwithstanding, I have one concern: if he gassed so much in this fight, how will he fare against Jon Jones or Lyoto Machida in a five-round, title fight? Or worse, against middleweight champion Anderson Silva, if indeed his next move is down to 185, where he'll have to drop even more weight?

White said Henderson could fight at either weight, and it will just depend on timing as to which. Either way, we know Hendo will give his all.

NOTES: The immediate reaction after the fight from many was to wonder whether it would have been better had the epic 25-minute Hendo-Shogun showdown been the headliner of the previous Saturday's UFC on FOX debut rather than the 64-second Junior Dos Santos TKO of Cain Velasquez. White said even in hindsight, he wouldn't have changed a thing about the UFC on FOX show.

"I would not have had a good week if that fight had headlined the UFC on FOX show," White said. "We have to ease into getting MMA on network television." ...

A couple of hours before Henderson and Shogun squared off in the Octagon in San Jose, Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez put his title on the line against Michael Chandler at an event in Hollywood, Fla. The top-ranked Alvarez was upset in the fourth round, when Chandler knocked him down and smoothly transitioned to a rear naked choke, in another true see-saw battle that was creating buzz as a possible fight of the year. That more or less dissipated by the time the final bell sounded in California.

TWEET OF THE NIGHT: From @MikeyJ_MMA: "The bout between eddie alvarez and michael was the fight of the year for about two hours. Then hendo-shogun happened."

James is a writer, editor and MMA enthusiast. His nickname, "Big Game" was given to him in the tradition of former Laker James Worthy and current Rays pitcher James Shields.