It took about 20 seconds for anyone to throw a punch and that was a simple jab from Shogun that missed by a mile. Henderson responded by looking for the big right hand, and while he managed to catch it it wasn't clean.
Both fighters were patient early. Shogun worked some leg kicks into his offense and Henderson didn't even attempt to check them. Instead, he head hunted. Another right hand missed. Shogun responded with another leg kick.
"Hendo" started finding his range and Rua jumped in on him. A scramble led to a reset in the center and the feeling out continued.
The action was very, very slow.
There was a brief clinch after the Brazilian landed a knee to the body but the American pushed off and they went back to exchanging in the center. Henderson landed a big shot that rocked Shogun, but he battled back and landed some huge punches of his own.
In fact, he dropped "Hendo" and pounced with a series of big punches. Somehow, Henderson survived to the horn to make it to round two.
For more on "Henderson vs. Shogun 2" click here, and for complete UFC Fight Night 38 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.
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