UFC 97: Redemption

[jmt225]

Main Card

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites
• Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua
• Light Heavyweight bout: Brian Stann vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
• Light Heavyweight bout: Luiz Arthur Cane vs. Steve Cantwell

Preliminary

• Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
• Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs. Jason MacDonald
• Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman
• Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden
• Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant
• Lightweight bout: Matt Wiman vs. Sam Stout

Awesome card. It takes place on April 18, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Thales Leites doesn't stand a chance against Anderson Silva, in my opinion, but at the same time, he's no push over. If Silva takes the fight seriously, then he'll have him finished by the second/third round I believe, but if he fucks around like he did against Cote, then he'll win by decision. But it's funny how this guy is good enough to just fuck around against someone as great as Leites truly is, but yet still be the favorite even if he does so, lol.

Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua should be a good fight. It's a must win for Liddell, but I don't see it happening. If Liddell loses, then the dude has to either retire or just jump up to Heavyweight. But if he can somehow manage a victory... then shit he's right back up in the ranks. However, it's a very small chance of that happening, no matter how hard Liddell trains for this fight (which, to be honest, I think Chuck is still lackluster when it comes to his training) because Rua is just a tremendous fighter. If and when Rua takes Liddell's ass out, hopefully a rematch against Forrest Griffin will then be in the works for him.

I'm heavily looking forward to Brian Stann's UFC debut. I've been a big of his for a while now with his work in WEC, so hopefully he kicks Krzysztof's ass, who I thought was a huge douche on the Ultimate Fighter.

Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk should be a GREAT stand-up war. Someone is definitely getting knocked out in this one, and if it's Kongo who knocks out Hardonk... then he should most definitely be a step closer to getting a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Hopefully, Steve Cantwell can continue his streak and take out Luiz Arthur Cane. Cantwell has looked really impressive in his last few fights and he just seems like a cool guy. He's definitely on the right track to becoming a serious contender in the Light Heavyweight Division if he can keep it up.

And the Preliminaries have some great fights in their own right. Nate Quarry vs. Jason MacDonald should be a stand-up war with hopefully Nate Quarry redeeming himself from his last fight (though there is no shame to losing to Maia). Both Ed Herman and David Loiseau ALWAYS put on exciting fights, so against each other... that should be a real treat. And I'm a big fan of Ryo Chonan and Matt Wiman, so hopefully those two can put on a couple of impressive performances and get wins they both desperately need.

 

[Marquis]

Looking forward to this card.

Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites, I'm sure most will assume this will be a one sided fight where Anderson KO's Leites. Judging from the history of both men, why shouldn't you? I though honestly think Leites stands a way better chance then most think. On the feet, without a doubt i think Silva will tool him, but on the ground its a different story. Both are BJJ black belts, but Leites to date has shown better BJJ, and has the better BJJ credentials. Leites was a Copa do Brasil absolute champion, and Copa do Mundo champion. Now I'm no BJJ expert, but those are impressive credentials. As far as i know Anderson is just a black belt. Now having nice BJJ credentials is fine and all, but what matters is how you apply it to MMA. BJJ in MMA is much different, and so far Thales has applied his BJJ well to MMA. Thales has also been training at Arizona Combat Sports. This is the same place where wrestlers like Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway, and Aaron Simpson train. Meaning he will be working on his Takedowns with some great wrestlers. Anderson hasn't shown any spectacular takedown defense that I am aware of. He was takendown by Travis Lutter a few times during his fight with him, and Lutter also mounted him. Now I'm sure since then Anderson has probably worked on his takedown defense, but if Lutter managed to get the takedown a few times, i think there's a good chance Leites training at ACS can bring Anderson to the ground, and on the ground i think Leites stands a good chance of pulling the upset. Again, Anderson I'm sure is no pushover on the ground, but i don't think hes on Leties's level when it comes to BJJ. I'll be cheering for Leites since i would love to see him get the upset.

Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua, really looking forward to this fight. I am a huge Shogun(Mauricio) fan, hes definitely one of my top 5 favorite fighters. Going into this fight, I am worried for Shogun. In his last fight he looked horrid against a 44 year old Coleman. He gassed very early in the fight, and was barely able to finish Coleman. Now I know Shogun had a very long lay off due to surgery, but if he doesn't improve his cardio, Chuck will knock him out or get the decision victory. Chuck also hasn't look good as of late, most seem to say its because hes been figured out. Its true that he never changes up his style. Stalks you and waits to land the looping right, but i think we might be surprised by Chuck in this fight. I obviously still think hes gonna go for a knockout, hes made that public knowledge, but hes been training at American Top Team. Some real good strikers train there, so I'm sure we will see some better stand up from Chuck. Chuck has also never had a gassing problem as far as I am aware of. I see this fight staying on the feet, and ending in KO for either fighter. Hopefully Shogun comes fully trained and with a good gas tank into this fight.

Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk, should be a good stand up fight. Don't see this one going to the ground, but i could possibly see Hardonk going for a takedown and try to submit Kongo. Not sure if he would be able to take Kongo down. Either way Kongo by TKO.

Luiz Arthur Cane vs. Steve Cantwell, another fight I'm really looking forward to. Both have good stand up, so expect this one to also be a stand up war. I wouldn't be too surprised if Cantwell attempts to go for the takedown and attempts to sub Cane, but i don't see Cane letting the fight go there. I am a fan of Cane, and see a bright future for him. I say Cane takes this one by KO.

The prelims look good. looking forward to seeing Kang make his return after his disappointing lose to Belcher. Also looking forward to Nate Quarry's fight against Jason MacDonald. I see Nate being very careful in this fight and not letting himself be takendown. He just came off a quick submission lose to Maia, same could happen against Macdonald if hes not careful. I see Quarry fighting a safe fight and probably pulling out a UD. Good to see David Loiseau back, hopefully he pulls out a win against Ed Herman.

 

[jmt225]

Well, it ended up being a really shitty event for the most part.

The main event was horrendous. I gave Leites way too much credit in that first post of mine. He was terrible last night. People can bitch and moan about Anderson Silva all they want, but the fact of the matter is that Silva has always needed an aggressor for his fights to be entertaining, and luckily, for the most part, that's all he has had thus far in his UFC career, except for Thales Leites and we saw the outcome. Nearly all of Silva's fights are boring for, like, the first 40 seconds or so, but then his opponent says fuck it and becomes aggressive. It's always a big mistake, but you have to do it. Unfortunately, Leites didn't do it and we ended up with one of the most boring fights in UFC history. But don't let it fool you though… Silva is still right up there with GSP as P4P the absolute best fighter in the World. I’m sure the UFC will pick a better opponent for him next time.

And poor Iceman. Looks like he's done, but at least Shogun's back. Hopefully, we get a Shogun/Forrest rematch if Forrest gets past Jardine like he should.

As far as the rest of the card... I really don't have much to comment on except to say that Kongo is incredible and deserves the winner of Brock/Mir, which will hopefully be Brock Lesnar because I think a Brock/Kongo fight would be spectacular.

 

[Marquis]

I found the main event to be the only shitty thing about the event.

Anderson Vs. Thales to me looked like the result of bad matchmaking. Both wanted to keep the fight where they had the advantage. Anderson on the feet, and Thales on ground. Thales did manage to get Anderson down to the ground, but Anderson showed how great his BJJ was and managed to get to his feet. Thales kept falling to his back so that Anderson can jump into his guard, but Anderson would not go into his guard. Which is understandable considering Leites has deadly BJJ. Later in the fight Anderson started landing sidekicks on Thale's knee, thus taking away Thales's takedown power. Anderson must have landed 15+ kicks on Thales's knee, I'm surprised his knee didn't buck. Overall i didn't find the fight as boring as most. I was mostly screaming at Thales to shoot for the takedown more, but realized after those kicks to the knee that wasn't happening. From there i myself got pretty bored of the fight. Both just refused to to fight where the other had the advantage, which again is understandable.

Shogun's victory over Chuck made me very happy. I was bit worried about shogun in this fight since in his last fight his stamina was horrid, and as far as i know Chuck doesn't have a stamina problem, but he looked great. He showed good stand up, and even showed a little bit of wrestling. When Shogun knocked out Chuck i did not see it land. The left hook was so quick, i couldn't believe it. I just saw chuck drop.

I would also like to see Shogun Vs. Forrest again. I would love for Shogun to avenge his lose, and btw Jmt, Forrest is fighting Thiago Silva next, not Jardine.

Kongo looked great against Hardonk. Kongo again showed he has one of the deadliest Ground and Pounds in the sport. A couple of people seem to think hes ready for a title shot, but i would like to see him fight against Shane Carwin for number 1 contender. Hopefully the match is made.

Was very happy for Cane's win over Cantwell. Both showed good standup, but Cane kept the pressure on Cantwell and stalked him around the cage. I was surprised to see the fight go to decision. Cantwell has a tough chin. I would like to see Cane go against a top 10 LHW, so that he can get himself into the title picture.

Didn't get to see any prelim fights. I know Nate Quarry won his fight, was glad to hear that.

 

[jmt225]

Okay, I just watched the Silva/Leities fight again, this time all by myself as opposed around a bunch of drunken idiots, and I have to say it wasn't as bad as I originally thought. It was bad, but not as bad as I made it out to be. Having watched all of Tim Sylvia's fights, including his fight with Monson and his third fight with Arlovski, I can say Silva vs. Leites wasn't anywhere near that bad or something like Shamrock vs. Severn 2 bad. I also think the crowd made the fight worse then it actually was, and it proves there is no particular audience that is smarter then another: the majority of UFC fans have no real clue about MMA.

But I still have to put the fault mostly on Leites for the fight being dull. As I mentioned he was being ultra defensive, passive, and butt scooted at every opportunity. Silva is a technical fighter, and doesn't look for homerun haymakers at the risk of leaving himself exposed. He also didn't want to clinch with Leites who could pull guard and put his BJJ to work. Once Leites realized he could do little with Silva on the ground, and later realized he could no longer get Silva to the ground, all he could do was survive. He wasn't looking to win, and he wasn't looking to take a chance because he knew he'd probably get finished.

What annoys me the most is apparently Dana White afterwards said he was embarrassed of that fight and plans to have words with Silva and his manager. He may know a lot about fight promotion, but he still knows fuck all about fighting. Perhaps Dana should fight Leites next and show Anderson how it’s done. Leites has only one other loss on his record and that was a decision loss also.

The guys Anderson has destroyed, he's been better at in every aspect, except Dan Henderson's wrestling, but he was able to do enough in the second round to pick him apart and choke him out. They've also been willing to engage as I said earlier.

Cote and Leites played super defensive and stalled the whole time, Leites more so because he wanted none of Silva on the feet. Anderson Silva doesn’t deserve any criticism from anybody as far as I’m concerned. He fought his fight and won; it’s not his fault that the guy he was fighting didn’t want to fight.

Anyway, where do you all see Silva going from here? As much as I’d like to see Maia get a shot the title, I think it'll just end up being similar as the fight last night. But really... Maia's the only MW left who is worthy of challenging for the title. So, what is there for Anderson Silva to do?

I'm sure we would all like to see him at Light Heavyweight, but he’s made it clear that the division belongs to his friend, Lyoto Machida. Silva could certainly finish out his contract with Light Heavyweight superfights, but I think people want to see Silva gun after another title. Therefore, the only options for a pursuit of another belt are in the Welterweight and Heavyweight divisions. The Welterweight division is by no means a long shot, because Silva competed at 168-175 pounds early in his career, and could easily beat anyone at Welterweight now.

Silva as a Heavyweight, however, interests me much, much more. He already walks around at 220 pounds, the division could use more big names/fights, and there are A LOT of interesting fights Silva could have in the division. Some will say that Silva may be too small, but the last time I checked, Fedor was only 6’0 and 220-225 pounds... and Silva is a completely different monster than Fedor.

So I think a move up to Heavyweight is the way to go for Anderson Silva, if you ask me.