UFC 97 Preview

Dylan Payne

The UFC returns to Montreal on Saturday April 18th for UFC 97. It is the second time the UFC has held an event in Canada, the first coming last April. However the event was in jeopardy of happening last month due to the fact that the Quebec Athletic Commission did not want to sanction the rules implemented by the UFC. They didn't want to allow knees, elbows, or strikes to a downed opponent. This led UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta to fly to Quebec and meet with the commission, ultimatly coming to a compromise of no foot stomps, thus saving the event.

The UFC 97 card is a pretty solid card featuring a main event of Anderson "The Spider" Silva, the consensus number one ranked middleweight in the world, versus up and comer Thales Leites. Anderson Silva has never lost in the UFC, holding an 8-0 record. With a win on the 18th he will break Royce Gracie's record of 8 consecutive wins inside the octagon. Silva's striking skills are hands down the best in his division and he also hold a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. The only way Leites will be able to beat Silva is if he catches him on an off day and can take the champ down and submit him. Of Leites' 14 wins, 9 have come via submission. I don't see that happening, though, and expect Silva to be champion until the day he retires.

Also fighting that night is on of the most popular fighters in the world, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. He will be taking on former number 1 ranked fighter in the world Maurico "Shogun" Rua. Once the ruler of the 205 pound weight class, Liddell has fallen on tough times as of late, losing 3 of his last 4 fights including a highlight reel knockout from Rashad Evans, a knockout in which I'm not even sure Liddell has woken up off the mat from yet. He hasn't fought since and will try to prove to the world that he's not in the twighlight of his career. Since coming over from Japan, Shogun has not been impressive at all, going 1-1 with his one win one of the worst fights I've ever seen. I always thought Shogun was overated and I expect Liddell to knock him with a right hook.

The rest of the card features two former WEC champions (the UFC's affiliated organization, sort of a minor league for up and coming fighters) in Steve Cantwell and Brian Stann, a dangerous young striker in Luiz Cane, top heavyweight prospect France's Cheick Kongo and former IFL and Ultimate Fighter contestant Krzystof Soszynski. All three undercard fights should be stand up wars and I expect knockouts from all three fights. I'm picking Kongo over Antoni Hardonk, Cane over Cantwell, and Stann over Krzystof.

The names on this card aren't the biggest out there, but overall I expect the fights to make this event one of the best events of the year.