UFC 97 review
Montreal, Canada – It would be difficult to find another person who has accomplished more in Mixed Martial Arts than Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. He is to MMA what Michael Jordan was to basketball and Saturday night we may have witnessed an end of an era.
With a legendary career hanging in the balance, Chuck Liddell didn’t hold anything back as he faced Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the co-main event of Saturday night’s UFC 97 “Redemption.”
Known for their striking abilities, both fighters came out guns a blazing. Rua weathered some flurries from Liddell early on and quickly went to work on his lead leg. Rua nearly caught the former champ with a leg lock, but Liddell quickly escaped. Back on the feet, Rua landed a stiff left which sent Liddell to the canvas and followed it up with a plethora of hammerfists ending the fight at the 4:28 mark of round one.
Liddell, who turns 40 in December, refused to speculate on his future, but according to UFC President and good friend Dana White he’s retired, “I don’t want to see anybody stick around too long,” White said. “I don’t want to see anybody get hurt. You’re never going to see Chuck Liddell on the canvas again.”
Liddell, who is 1-4 in his past five bouts, doesn’t refute White’s statements, “That’s probably safe to say,” he said. “I’m not going to make any decisions until I go home and talk to everybody.”
It’s safe to say that the Chuck Liddell era has come and gone and a debt of gratitude must go out to him for all he’s done for MMA.
It’s also safe to say that the “Shogun” era has begun in the UFC. With victories over “Rampage” Jackson and now Chuck Liddell, the 27- year-old Rua has a bright future ahead of him.
I believe UFC 97 was billed as “Redemption” to give Anderson Silva a chance to redeem himself for his bizarre fight last year with Patrick Cote. I guess we’ll have to wait till his next fight for him to deliver on his promise of delivering an action packed battle as he and Thales Leites put on quite the snoozer.
“The Spider,” known for his highlight reel knockouts, successfully defended his middleweight championship and set a record for his ninth consecutive UFC victory.
The 25 minute title bout saw little to no action as Thales Leites didn’t want any part of stand up of Silva and Silva declined to roll with Leites on the ground. The fight was booed from the get go and the Canadian fans kept it up the whole match. Silva earned the unanimous decision victory and amidst the displeasure of his fans was happy with his performance.
"I’m comfortable with people’s opinion," Silva said. "People have a right to their own opinion. But when I go out there, everything I do in training I feel that I executed in the fight.
"My game plan, I wanted to go into the later rounds with Thales. I was unable to finish. Sometimes I’m able to finish guys; sometimes I’m not able to. I felt that I proved to everybody that I’m able to go five rounds, and I’m in good shape."
President Dana White didn’t quite have the same sentiments when asked about the fight, "I’m personally unhappy with the whole fight," White said. "I did not like the fight at all, period, on either side."
He would go on to even apologize for the debacle on Yahoo Sports, “I can honestly tell you that I’ve never put on an event that I was embarrassed to be at until tonight. I want to publicly apologize to all the fans. I apologize. I personally apologize for what happened tonight. You guys know, this isn’t what the UFC was built on and this isn’t the way the fights usually go. Listen, any night you can have an off-night. When a guy is that talented and can literally end a fight whenever he wants to, wow.”
In reality it’s not up for us to dictate on how Silva or whomever fights. He doesn’t need to get a quick knockout night in and night out. The middleweight division is lacking a definite number one contender. Other than a bout with Wanderlei Silva or move up in weight class there isn’t much there for “The Spider.” I say let him go get beat by Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match and then he’ll come back to the UFC more motivated.
“Fight of the Night” honors went to Sam Stout and Matt Wiman as the two lightweight studs had a memorable back and forth battle. Stout was able to do enough to earn a unanimous decision in front of his countrymen snapping his two fight losing skid.
Two former WEC light heavyweight champions fall as Brian Stann succumbed to a Krzysztof Soszynski kimura in round one.
Coming into his fight with Luiz Cane, former WEC champ Steve Cantwell was riding a four fight win streak, that streak was snapped in a hard fought decision loss to Cane. The fight was anyone’s to win going into round three and Cane proved to be the fresher of the two as used a barrage of jabs to steal the victory.
It’s Cane’s third victory in a row.
Heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo continues to impress as he used a vicious ground and pound to halt the three fight win streak of Antoni Hardonk. Kongo was able to drop Hardonk in the first and second round and finally put him away midway through round two. The victory moves the Frenchman into title contention.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Anderson Silva def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46)
Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:28
Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) - Round 1, 3:53
Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 2:29
Luiz Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:27
Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 4:57
T.J. Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
