UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, USA. It was the first UFC event in San Jose, the longtime home and base arena for Strikeforce.

UFC 139 featured two preliminary fights live on Spike TV.

UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez was originally expected to have his first title defense against Junior dos Santos at this event. However, on September 2, 2011, the UFC announced that fight would be moved to the inaugural UFC on Fox event.

Vitor Belfort was briefly linked to a matchup with Cung Le at this event. However, Belfort was removed from the bout and replaced by Wanderlei Silva.

Dana White announced that the winner of the main event between Rua and Henderson was possibly going to receive a title shot, but then stated in January 2012 that the winner Phil Davis vs. Rashad Evans at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis would receive the next title shot, due to the fact that the then-champion: Jon Jones was unable to fight the winner of Rua and Henderson because they couldn't materialize the fight between Jones and the Rua vs. Henderson winner (at that time).

Cung Le (Vietnamese: Lê Cung, born May 25, 1972) is a Vietnamese AmericanSanshou kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and actor from Saigon, Vietnam currently competing in the UFC. He is the former IKF Light Heavyweight San Shou World Champion and has a professional San Shou record of 16-0 before moving to mixed martial arts (he also held an undefeated kick-boxing record of 17-0). He defeated Frank Shamrock to become the second Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before vacating the title to further pursue his acting career.

Cung Le was born in Saigon, Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). In 1975, three days before the Fall of Saigon, Cung Le and his mother Anne left Vietnam by helicopter under heavy gunfire. He ended up in San Jose, California where early racial bullying inspired him to learn martial arts. His mother enrolled him in Taekwondo classes at the age of 10. Le has disciplines in a variety of martial arts, and was undefeated as a professional kickboxer with a record of 17 wins and 0 losses. He is a three time world champion in kickboxing and also coaches his own team, which is now 11–0 in team competition.

Wanderlei César da Silva ( /ˈvændərleɪ/ VAN-dər-lay; Portuguese: [vɐ̃dɛɾˈlej ˈsɛzɐr dɐ ˈsiɫvɐ];Japanese: [ba̠nda̠ɽe̞i ɕiü͍βa̠]; born July 3, 1976), nicknamed "The Axe Murderer", is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Silva is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in knockout or referee stoppage due to strikes. His style includes engaging opponents with punches and knees from the Muay Thai clinch. He holds the record for the most wins and knockouts in Pride FC history. He is currently ranked as #22 best middleweight fighter in the world by FightMatrix.com.

Silva began his training under Rudimar Fedrigo at the Chute Boxe Academy in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. Although he specializes in muay Thai, he has also trained and received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from trainer Cristiano Marcello. Silva was given the nickname "Cachorro Louco" ("Mad Dog") in Brazil because of his aggressive style and his pre-fight opponent "stare down". He is the former IVC Light heavyweight Champion, former PRIDE Middleweight Champion, and the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Winner.

Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.

Born in Manchester, Connecticut on July 28, 1969, White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, Ware, Massachusetts and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.

White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns about 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC.

Daniel Jeffery Henderson, (born August 24, 1970) is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler, who competes as a middleweight and light heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight 183 lb (83 kg; 13.1 st) and Middleweight 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) champion of Pride Fighting Championships. He was the only mixed martial artist to concurrently hold two titles in two different weight classes in a major MMA promotion. Henderson is also the UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Winner, the 1997 Brazil Open Lightweight Tournament Champion, the RINGS King of Kings 1999 Tournament Winner, and the 2005 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Champion.

Henderson also owns the Clinch Gear MMA apparel brand. As of May 2012, Henderson is ranked the #2 light heavyweight by Sherdog.

Dan Henderson was born in Downey, California and grew up in Apple Valley, California. He attended Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California, and earned medals at the California State Wrestling Championships in 1987 and 1988. He was a member of the 1987 Victor Valley High School wrestling team state champions. Henderson went on to wrestle at both Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State University, participating in the 1993 NCAA championships. He represented the United States in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling.