UFC 97 Preview: Legalized Murder
Published by Jim Genia on April 18th, 2009 in Current Events

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Not a soul in the world believes Thales Leites has a chance against middleweight champ Anderson Silva when the two meet at UFC 97 (okay, maybe Leites’ close family believes he has a chance – but that’s it). After all, Leites earned his title shot against one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet with a win over Nate Marquardt that was based solely on Marquardt’s excessive fouling. Yes, excessive fouling. Which means unless Silva cheats repeatedly en route to a close decision, Leites’ chances against the man who has put away Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Marquardt – and nearly everyone else that has ever stood before him – hover at nil. While UFC 97 at the Bell Centre in Montreal is officially dubbed “Redemption”, a more apt name would be “Legalized Murder”.

Of course, the sport’s short history is littered with stunning upsets. Once upon a time BJ Penn moved up a weight class to face the untouchable Matt Hughes, and he had Hughes tapping to a rear naked choke before the first round was through. And who can forget Matt Serra’s defeat of Georges St. Pierre with a storm of leather – the upset to trump all upsets. But the reality of UFC 97’s lone championship bout is that Silva has been unstoppable since venturing into the Octagon, and though Leites has the jiu-jitsu street cred to put away nearly anyone, all Silva needs to do to avoid any submissions is know enough of the ground game to create an opening for his fists. His own black belt in jiu-jitsu should serve him well in that regard. To put it succinctly: Leites is doomed.

It’s very likely Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is doomed, too. Taking on the aging Chuck Liddell, Shogun no doubt plans to test “The Iceman’s” once granite chin with his Muay Thai skills. But two utterly disgusting performances in the Octagon (a submission loss to Forrest Griffin and a pitiful TKO win against a gassed Mark Coleman) tell us one thing: the destructive Shogun we saw in Pride has long since left the building. Liddell may be fading as a knockout artist, yet he’s still got that dangerous looping right and his counterpunching. The former UFC 205-pound champ is going to put the Brazilian away sooner rather than later.

The rest of the main card is an exercise in face-punching and leg-kicking. Heavyweight striker Cheick Kongo – who’s recorded wins over Mirko Crocop, Assuerio Silva and Dan Evenson in his tenure in the UFC – should have little problem picking apart Dutch kickboxer Antoni Hardonk. Former WEC champs Brian Stann and Steve Cantwell, two men who favor throwing leather over things like takedowns and submissions, will taste life in the major leagues with beatings at the hands of TUF veteran Krzysztof Soszynski and tough Brazilian Luis Cane, respectively. The epic preliminary bout selection includes the return of former Pride: Bushido stud Denis Kang, former middleweight contender David Loiseau, and a battle-worn Nate Quarry taking on Canadian grappler Jason McDonald.

But UFC 97: “Legalized Murder” will ultimately be about Silva (and to a certain extent Liddell), who will enter the cage to fight, and who will exit the cage with another confirmed kill. Other than sitting in on a prison execution, where else can you see that sort of thing?