Dan Henderson-‘Shogun’ Rua Rematch to Headline UFC Fight Night 38 in Brazil

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Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua will rematch this March in the main event of UFC Fight Night 38.

UFC officials this week confirmed the booking, which was first reported by Brazilian outlet Tatame. The March 23 event is expected to take place at Nelio Dias Gymnasium in Natal, Brazil, and will air live on UFC Fight Pass.

Although both Henderson and Rua were stars in Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships, they never met in the Pride ring. The light heavyweights would not fight until 2011, when Henderson took a bloody unanimous decision from Rua in a “Fight of the Year” nominee at UFC 139.

The victory served as Henderson’s last win, as the American would drop split decisions to Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans before closing out last year with a first-round knockout defeat to the resurgent Vitor Belfort.

Rua lost two of his next three after coming up short against Henderson, relinquishing a decision to future title challenger Alexander Gustafsson and then submitting to a Chael Sonnen guillotine choke. However, “Shogun” rebounded from the defeats in his most recent encounter, knocking out James Te Huna in just 63 seconds last month at UFC Fight Night 33.