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Also on the card, former UFC light
heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell will trade
punches with another dangerous striker when he takes on
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Liddell and Rua were originally
scheduled to meet at UFC 85 last June, but both men were
forced to withdraw from the event with injuries.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion is
coming off a loss to the division’s present title holder
Rashad Evans and is looking to recapture the magic that saw
him win an amazing 14 of 15 UFC matches from 1999-2006. The
39-year-old is now focused on getting back on another
winning streak.
Rua (17-3), meanwhile, has not looked like the same fighter
who battered Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Ricardo Arona and
Overeem en route to the 2005 Pride middleweight grand prix
title. The dynamic 27-year-old Brazilian submitted to
Forrest Griffin in his Octagon debut and struggled to put
away Mark Coleman at UFC 93 on Saturday. Conditioning has
become a significant concern for Rua, who has fought past
the first round only six times in 20 career bouts.
MAIN CARD (PPV - 10pm ET)
* Anderson Silva (c) vs. Thales Leites
UFC Middleweight Championship
* Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
* Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann
PRELIMINARY CARD (unaired)
* Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry
* Ed Herman vs. David Loiseau
* David Bielkheden vs. Mark Bocek
UFC 97 Recap of Fights
* Anderson Silva (c) defeated Thales Leites
by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46) - UFC
Middleweight Championship
* Mauricio
Shogun Rua defeated Chuck Liddell via TKO (Strikes) - Round
1 @ 4:28
* Luis Cane
defeated Steve Cantwell by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27,
30-27)
* Cheick
Kongo defeated Antoni Hardonk via TKO (Strikes) — Round 2 @
2:29
* Kryzstof
Soszynski defeated Brian Stann via Submission (Kimura) —
Round 1 @ 3:53
* Sam Stout
defeated Matt Wiman via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28)
Preliminary UFC 97 Bouts Results:
* Eliot Marshall defeated Vinicius Magalhaes by Unanimous
Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
* Denis
Kang defeated Xavier Foupa-Pokam by Unanimous Decision
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
* Nate
Quarry defeated Jason MacDonald via TKO (Strikes) - Round 1
@ 2:27)
* Ed Herman
defeated David Loiseau by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27,
30-27)
* Mark
Bocek defeated David Bielkheden via Submission (Rear Naked
Choke) — Round 1 @ 4:57
* TJ Grant defeated Ryo Chonan by Split Decision (30-27,
28-29, 29-28) |
