UFC 97 Betting Odds
UFC 97 Redemption
Date: Apr 18, 2009
Location: Montreal, Canada
Venue: Bell Centre (Le Centre Bell)
Broadcast: Pay per view
The UFC will return to Montreal, Canada on April 18th as Anderson Silva defends his middleweight title against Thales Leites in the evening’s main event.
Among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Silva (23-4) is undefeated inside the octagon, winning a record-tying eight-straight bouts in the UFC. “The Spider” recently ventured up to the 205-pound light heavyweight division, knocking out James Irvin in one-minute in July before dropping back to 185-pounds to successfully defend his title over Patrick Cote at UFC 90 in October.
As for Thales Leites (14-1), he has won five-straight in the UFC and 13 of 14 professional fights. Leites followed up a controversial victory over Nate Marquardt with a first-round submission of Drew McFedries in October.
But while he is an underdog, if Leites can take the fight to the ground, he’s got a shot. Leites has tremendous Brazilian jiu jitsu skills and can at least give Silva something he hasn’t gotten in his last two fights: a challenge.
Also on the card we have the return of The “Iceman” Chuck Liddell who is coming off what I think was the best KO of 2008 which had Chuck on the wrong end courtesy of LHW Champ Rashad Evans. Liddell will look to rebound and once again prove himself to be a force in LHW division. We all know Chuck can end a fight in one punch. He will square off with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua who is coming off a terrible performance against a washed up Mark Coleman at UFC 93.
The contest will be Rua's third for the UFC. The 27-year-old had a disappointing debut at UFC 76, suffering a third-round submission loss to Forrest Griffin in the September 2007 bout. It would be another 16 months before the Brazilian would appear again in his UFC 93 co-main-event victory over rival Mark Coleman. Knee injuries plagued Rua throughout his time off.
Liddell and Rua were originally scheduled to meet at UFC 85 in June 2008. Rua's aforementioned knee injury forced him off of the card in March, and Liddell would follow suit in April by bowing out after injuring his hamstring during a training session.
Also, Cheick Kongo will look to continue his climb up the heavyweight ladder when he takes on Antoni Hardonk at UFC 97. Both fighters are riding win streaks inside the Octagon but with no real front runners in the heavyweight division Cheick Kongo could move right into the #1 contender status with another win. Kongo is coming off a first round TKO win over Mustapha Al Turk at UFC 92 in what was one of the most brutal displays of ground and pound ever witnessed inside the Octagon. Hardonk is also coming off a TKO victory at UFC 92 stopping Mike Wessel in the second round. This could prove to be a very important matchup in the heavyweight division as fighters like Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Shane Carwin, and Gabriel Gonzaga all shooting for that coveted #1 contender spot that will likely get a shot at the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir for the heavyweight championship.
The event will be the promotion’s second-ever in Canada following the extremely successful UFC 83, which took place this past April and featured Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Serra. 21,390 fans packed the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal, generating a $5.1 million live gate.
Main Card (TELEVISED)
- Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites (Middleweight Title Fight)
- Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
- Luis Cane vs. Steve Cantwell
- Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann
- Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
Preliminary Card (UN-TELEVISED)
- Ed Herman vs. David Loiseau
- Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry
- Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
- Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman
- David Bielkheden vs. Mark Bocek
- T.J. Grant vs. Ryo Chonan
UFC 97 Results
Anderson Silva beat Thales Leites by unanimous decision.
Eliot Marshall beat Vinny Magalhaes by unanimous decision
T.J. Grant beat Ryo Chonan by split decision
Mark Bocek beat David Bielkheden by first-round submission (rear-naked)
Ed Herman beat David Loiseau by unanimous decision
Nate Quarry beat Jason MacDonald by first-round TKO (strikes)
Denis Kang beat Xavier Foupa-Pokam by unanimous decision
Luiz Cane beat Steve Cantwell by unanimous decision
Cheick Kongo beat Antoni Hardonk by second-round TKO (strikes)
Krzysztof Soszynski beat Brian Stann by first-round submission (kimura)
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua beats Chuck Liddell by first-round TKO (strikes)
Sam Stout beat Matt Wiman by unanimous decision
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