UFC 97

[Poacher]

Can Leites pull it off?

I'll take Chuck over Shogun.

Hopefully Hardonk can stop Kongo.

 

[Liverlips]

Very weak card in my opinion. Chuck is washed up but so is Rua.

Kongo is easily the most overrated MMA fighter in history (maybe with the exception of Kimbo Slice). Hmmm ... wonder why those two jokers get/got so much hype? Can anyone imagine why. It's a mystery to me

Anyhoo, here are my predictions:

Lidell UD over Rua.

Silva TKO 2 over Leites.

Kongo SD over Hardonk (let the hype machine continue but Hardonk is a journeyman at best).

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Here's the card for tomorrow night...

Main Card

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

Preliminary Card

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

 

[guest301]

I am going to watch the fights tonight at a sports bar. Lets hope Liddell has one last run through the light heavyweight division in him. I am not convinced that he is a shot fighter yet. Cantwell and Stann were entertaining fighters in the WEC, I hope they perform similar in the UFC. Nate Quarry is one of the classiest and most likeable MMA guys, I hope he wins and get his career back on the right track.

 

[Iron]

Hope Shogun Rua destroys Liddell and once again finds the form he showed in Pride where he really was the Black destroyer beating Jackson,Randleman,Overeem and other dark non white Brazilians like Nogueira and Arona.That version of Shogun is a threat to anyone including Evans.If Liddell wins he will only be put into rematches with Rampage and Evans in fights he has no chance of winning where he will most likely suffer the same ko defeats.Would be good to see young Cantwell get the win along with Hardonk and Kang who both face French Africans.

 

[Liverlips]

I did notice Silva came in at 182 yesterday. That is the lowest I have ever seen him and he was at 205 only 9 months ago.

Whenever I see a fighter come in lower than usual he always loses. I think of Chris Byrd (his recent comeback at 175), De La Hoya (Pac), Roy Jones (Tarver after winning the heavyweight belt), Donny Lalonde (against Leonard where he had to come in at 168 even though he was champ at 175) and Riddick Bowe (Golota II). Valuev came in about 14 lbs lighter and almost lost to Holyfield in December (in fact, I thought he got beat by the 46 year old).

Not saying Silva will lose, and it is only 3 lbs differnce from his usual. But it could effect "The Spider" if the fight goes past 3 rounds. Cutting weight takes so much out of you and Silva doesn't seem to have much fat to lose.

Oh well, we'll find out in a few hours.

 

[celticdb15]

Kind of a boring title defense for silva. He did NOT want to fight on the ground and Leites has zero to none striking ability. At least Thales went the distance and did not get knocked out. Btw Canadiens were chanting GSP GSP!!

 

[guest301]

UFC 97 was a waste of money and time. Machida/Evans in UFC 98 should be a better investment.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Here's the card results from last night...

Preliminary Card
Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vinicius Magalhães
Marshall defeated Magalhães via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant
Grant defeated Chonan via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29).
Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden
Bocek defeated Bielkheden via submission (rear naked choke) at 4:57 of round 1.
Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman
Herman defeated Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).

Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry
Quarry defeated MacDonald via TKO (elbows) at 2:27 of round 1.
Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
Kang defeated Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Main Card
Light Heavyweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Arthur Cane
Cane defeated Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).
Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
Kongo defeated Hardonk via TKO (strikes) at 2:29 of round 2.

Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann
Soszynski defeated Stann via submission (kimura) at 3:53 of round 1.
Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua
Rua defeated Liddell via TKO (strikes) at 4:28 of round 1.
Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman
Stout defeated Wiman via unaninmous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites
Silva defeated Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46) to retain the Middleweight Championship title.

 

[foobar75]

Glad to see Liddell lose, and hopefully, he will now retire. I agree with Iron that Shogun was a destroyer of many black fighters, and I hope he gets a chance to move up and face either Jackson or Evans. Liddell should not be given any further opportunities, especially against Jackson or Evans or any other black fighter because he'll definitely get knocked out again, which will give caste clowns more ammunition.

To be perfectly honest, I was never impressed with Chuck, I felt that the opposition he faced on his way to winning and defending his UFC titles were mediocre at best.

 

[guest301]

Randy Couture was certainly not mediocre(Chuck beat him twice) and Tito Ortiz was still considered one of the worlds best fighters and in his prime when Chuck beat him the first time. Don't forget how easily Chuck knocked out Black fighter Kevin Randleman early in his career. Renato(Babalu) Sabral is a pretty good fighter as well who Chuck beat twice.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Chuck was indeed a top fighter in his prime. His unorthodox style, heavy hands & sprawling/takedown defense were hard to counter. I didn't care for his "party animal"/Hollywood/big-timer persona, but he was a top 5 MMA fighter for a few years there.

However, he's lost some hand speed & his unorthodox style (of holding his hands lower) has came back to haunt him via these KO's/TKO's. He should retire & focus on other opportunities now...TV/films, training other fighters, etc.

 

[Liverlips]

My belated thoughts on UFC 97:

1. Chuck is done and should retire. He has been offered an office job with the UFC and should take it. Lidell looked fit but at 39 he can no longer take a punch or compete at a top level. Sure, he can go to Strikeforce or Afflication and beat some journeymen and maybe get a shot at their version of the title. But I hope Chuck sees the writing on the wall.

2. I'm not convinced Rua is as good as he looked. He wants Griffin but I think Forrest handles Shogun again.

3. Anderson Silva cements his position as the #3 p4p fighter in MMA. Can you imagine Fedor and GSP allowing a guy like Leites to hang around and survive for 5 boring rounds? Neither can I. Damian Maia will end Silva's reign at 185.

4. Kongo can beat the journeymen like Hardonk (8-6 record) and Al-Turk but cannot hang with anyone in the top 10. I think the Great Black Hype will be fed to Carwin, Cain or Noguiera next.

5. Overall a weak card but UFC 98 should be a great one. WAR MACHIDA!!!

 

[celticdb15]

Liverlips i pray that your #4 comes true! Machida should DOMINATE

 

[Ibanez]

Liddell was a great champion of his time. When he was at his peak, I loved watching him fight.

I was not a fan of his particularly--I was constantly amazed at how this semi-awkward fighter with a subtle beer belly that had 'only' the tools of: elite takedown defense, elite chin, and a right hand that Joe Louis would envy could dominate an entire division for years.

Everyone, do yourself a solid-- check out Chuck Liddell's fights with Tito Ortiz. Go see that freak in his prime. It does not get much better than that. Google video picks them up from some russian or japanese youtube clone.

Check out how Ortiz is terrified of engaging with Liddell. No joke. You can clearly tell this at several points in the fight via Ortiz' body language etc.

Unfortunately, time has caught up with him, and I just hope that he will not suffer from dementia in the next few years.

Those fighters are tough sons of bitches and I respect that they destroy their body for my entertainment.

The fans in Montreal are classy-- they cheered him tremendously.

Odd fact for my American friends--Montreal has a long history (relatively speaking of course!) of MMA events, unlike most places in the USA

Kongo will be destroyed against Carwin. I imagine UFC will put those two together VERY soon. Watch for it.

 

[guest301]

Liddell was a great champion of his time. When he was at his peak, I loved watching him fight.

I was not a fan of his particularly--I was constantly amazed at how this semi-awkward fighter with a subtle beer belly that had 'only' the tools of: elite takedown defense, elite chin, and a right hand that Joe Louis would envy could dominate an entire division for years.

Everyone, do yourself a solid-- check out Chuck Liddell's fights with Tito Ortiz. Go see that freak in his prime. It does not get much better than that. Google video picks them up from some russian or japanese youtube clone.

Check out how Ortiz is terrified of engaging with Liddell. No joke. You can clearly tell this at several points in the fight via Ortiz' body language etc.

Unfortunately, time has caught up with him, and I just hope that he will not suffer from dementia in the next few years.

Those fighters are tough sons of bitches and I respect that they destroy their body for my entertainment.

The fans in Montreal are classy-- they cheered him tremendously.

Odd fact for my American friends--Montreal has a long history (relatively speaking of course!) of MMA events, unlike most places in the USA

Kongo will be destroyed against Carwin. I imagine UFC will put those two together VERY soon. Watch for it.

I agree. Liddell was a great fighter and a entertaining one in his prime. He will be missed and I hope there will be another great white light heavyweight on the horizon who just arrives on the scene and knocks people out because thats what propelled Chuck to stardom and popularity with MMA fans.

 

[JD074]

Randy Couture was certainly not mediocre(Chuck beat him twice) and Tito Ortiz was still considered one of the worlds best fighters and in his prime when Chuck beat him the first time. Don't forget how easily Chuck knocked out Black fighter Kevin Randleman early in his career. Renato(Babalu) Sabral is a pretty good fighter as well who Chuck beat twice.

I agree. They weren't mediocre, they were just good stylistic match-ups for him: wrestlers and grapplers who weren't great strikers. They couldn't take him down and keep him down, or out-strike him.