• UFC 139

Shogun was 'seeing stars' during late onslaught

Mauricio Shogun Rua failed to finish Dan Henderson at UFC 139 despite a dominant final round © Getty Images

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Mauricio Shogun Rua has revealed he failed to finish Dan Henderson because he had lost too much blood and was seeing stars.

Shogun has reflected on his UFC 139 loss to Henderson, which saw both men dropped at different points in the fight. Having taken a beating for most of three rounds, Shogun roared back - mounting Henderson in the fifth without forcing the stoppage.

To the naked eye it appeared the Brazilian was simply too exhausted to deliver the necessary power in his punches, but Shogun revealed the major problem was the blood he lost from his nose and a cut above the eye.

"I was a little dizzy at the time because I lost so much blood, so I couldn't tell how well I was doing in the fight," Shogun told Tatame. "For what I've seen later, it was a good fight. Dan Henderson showed he's a really tough guy and deserves to be respected.

"I was very dizzy, I could see stars. I lost a lot of blood in the fight, I wasn't 100 per cent, but I gave my best. Dan Henderson has alligator skin, he can handle punches without bleeding. I did my best, but unfortunately I couldn't get a positive result."

Shogun had to be cleared of a possible skull fracture in the aftermath of the fight and, asked if he could return in time for the February card in Japan, he revealed he also had a pre-fight problem around the shoulder area.

"I guess it's hard for me to fight in Japan, even because I injured my clavicle two months before the fight, so I'm a lot hurt and tired," Rua revealed. "I'll stay two weeks off and I don't want to think about fighting during that period. But it's not something I discard, I'll think about it carefully."

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