Henderson ultimately took the decision with 48-47 scores.

"I thought I could finish him the first two or three rounds, but he finished strong," Henderson said. "But I knew I had those first three rounds easy. I thought I even had one of the rounds 10-8.

"He stayed in there like a former champion should and finished strong"

UFC 139 results:
Dan Henderson def. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Wanderlei Silva def. Cung Le via knockout (strikes) - Round 2, 4:49
Urijah Faber def. Brian Bowles via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2, 1:27
Martin Kampmann def. Rick Story via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Stephan Bonnar def. Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-27)
Ryan Bader def. Jason Brilz via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 1:17
Michael McDonald def. Alex Soto via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 0:56
Chris Weidman def. Tom Lawlor via technical submission (D'arce choke) - Round 1, 2:07
Gleison Tibau def. Rafael dos Anjos via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Miguel Torres def. Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Seth Baczynski def. Matt Brown via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2, 0:42
Danny Castillo def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 4:52