UFC 97 Recap

Liddell: "At this point this is the most important fight of my career." Rua: "For sure it's going to be awesome to knock his head off." Liddell: "This will be a new version of the Iceman of old. I'm coming after him."

Silva: "I'm looking for Thales to make mistakes, and I'm going to capitalize." Leites: "I'm going to beat him and become the new UFC champion."

And we are LIVE from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Goldberg says if Silva is successful tonight he'll have won his 9th straight UFC fight, breaking the record of 8 held by both Jon Fitch and Royce Gracie. Rogan says at some point to prove who is the pound for pound best we could see Silva v. GSP at some point in the future.

We throw to a clip from Dana White, who says if Chuck Liddell doesn't win or shine then it will be the last time you'll see him fight (unstated - last time you'll see him fight... in UFC).

* Steve Cantwell v. Luiz Cane (Light Heavyweight Bout)

BONSOIR MON'TREAL! Bruce Buffer is here to introduce the first fight of the evening. Blue corner, 10-1, 1 NC, 6'2", 206 pounds, fighting out of Sao Paulo, Brazil - Luiz Cane! Red corner, 8-1, 6'2", 205 pounds, Steve 'The Robot' Cantwell! Referee in charge is Mario Yamasaki.

Cane is dominating with strikes early and Cantwell is spending most of his time backing away. Cantwell's confidence starts to pick up about three minutes in as his head movement is getting a little better and a few of his kicks are connecting. Cane probably takes R1 10-9 on striking but Cantwell looks stronger at the end of the round than he did at the start, so he should be good to go for R2.

Cantwell has only one takedown attempt (and fail) in this entire fight as we start R2. That's not enough. Cane shows us why by continuing to score with strikes. Cantwell's best combo of kick and body shot comes (again) about three minutes in. In fact Cantwell starts scoring some nice shots with the foot which visibly catch Cane. Did the left foot to the head and a few nice right hooks give Cantwell the round on at least 1 if not 2 scorecards? I'm willing to say yes. In fact this may be all even going into R3.

The story of R3 is that for every one strike Cantwell lands, Cane lands about two. The head kicks are still nasty though. You hate to see it go to the scorecards in a fight like this because it could really go either way but I'm going to say Cane takes a split decision with two 29-28's and one 28-29.

Here's Bruce Buffer with the decision. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER THREE ROUNDS WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS: HAMILTON 29-28, LEBLANC 30-27, PEOPLES 30-27, FOR THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION: LUIZ CANE. Can't say I'm shocked. No post-fight interview.

* Cheick Kongo v. Antoni Hardonk (Heavyweight Bout)

Tale of the tape for Kongo and Hardonk respectively: 232 v. 249 pounds, both 33, both 6'4", 82" to 78" in reach. Hardonk is 8-4 and fights out of Amsterdam in the blue corner. In the red corner Kongo is 23-4-1 and fights out of Paris, France. Our referee in charge is Yves Lavigne. Here we go!

A LET'S GO KON-GO chant breaks out 105 seconds in. Kongo has been backed up to the fence for a bit in the round but has never been in any danger. Hardonk attempts a leg kick after they are pushed apart by Lavigne and Kongo responds with a punch that sends him to the ground. Hardonk refuses to stand up until the ref makes him with 2:15 to go. Kongo hits knees to the thighs clinched up againt the cage and finally manages to hurt Hardonk enough for the takedown with a minute to go. Hardonk does his best to hold Kongo down for the rest of the round. 10-9 Kongo.

There's an early knockdown by Kongo in R2 which may or may not be Hardonk purposefully going to the ground (or even slipping) but instead of being content to kick at the legs until Lavigne stands it up Kongo jumps on him to throw down a hammerfist and do as much damage in guard as possible.

Hardonk appears cut on his right cheek. Lavigne calls for more work with 3:15 left. Kongo responds by passing and unleashing a fury of hammers and headshots until Lavigne calls the fight. IT IS ALL OVER. The replay shows Hardonk's nose was bleeding and he was turtling up completely. We'll wait for Bruce Buffer to give us the official result.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LAVIGNE STOPS THE CONTEST AT 2:29 OF R2 DECLARING THE WINNER BY TKO: CHEICK KONGO! No post-fight interview here either.

* Krzysztof Soszynski v. Brian Stann (Light Heavyweight Bout)

Tale of the tape from Soz to Stann - 31 to 28 in age, 6'1" each, 204 to 206 in weight, 77.5" to 74" in reach. In the blue corner Stann is 6-1 and fights out of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In the red corner Soz is 17-9-1 and fights out of Temecula, California by way of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (that gets a pop). Dan Miragliotta is our ref in charge. Here we go!

Soz gets the first takedown of the round just past the two minute mark and takes the mount before the halfway point. He switches to side control with two left. Stann scrambles to his feet with 100 seconds left and Soz takes him right back down again. Soz has a kimura in half guard but let it go. He moves to the side and this time he locks it up and finishes it. IT IS ALL OVER! We'll get the official time from Buffer momentarily. The replay shows us how lightning quick Soz gets the kimura once he passes guard and Brian wastes no time tapping out.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN REF DAN STOPS THE CONTEST AT 3:53 OF THE FIRST ROUND FOR THE WINNER BY TAPOUT DUE TO A KIMURA: 'THE POLISH EXPERIMENT' SOZ! "WOWWWWW! THIS IS THE BEST! Thank you Montreal! I always go for the kimura from every angle. I'll do it again next time as well." Rogan congratulates him on an awesome performance.

* Chuck Liddell v. Shogun Rua (Light Heavyweight Bout)

Damn, no bonus fight despite the quite stoppage by Soz. Rua is 12 years younger than Liddell at 39 but almost everything else on the tale of the tape is identical. THIS, IS, THE CO-MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING. Rua is 17-3 and fights out of Curitiba, Brazil. Chuck is 21-6 and of course fights out of San Luis Obispo, California. NIGHT AND DAY reactions to both men - boos for Rua and a very nice pop for Liddell. Mario Yamasaki is in charge. Here we go!

Rua is landing plenty of kicks in the firt round, but Liddell is answering with hard rights every time. Rua gets a takedown halfway through the round and nearly gets a leg lock but Chuck manages to scramble away and hit a vicious elbow when they finally break apart with 1:50 left. Rua already has a cut on his forehead from a previous looping right. CHUCK WITH THE TAKEDOWN AT 1:00 LEFT.

Good to see him do it! SHIT. IT IS ALL OVER. RUA BUSTED LIDDELL UP AND ROCKED HIM. Straight hard left knocked Chuck down, Rua rains the hammerfists, Liddell stops defending himself and Yamasaki waves it off. Liddell has to ask the ref what happened and if the fight is over - that's how out of it he was. We'll get the official time momentarily.

4:28 OF R1 FOR THE WINNER BY TKO: MAURICIO SHOGUN RUA. "I'm very happy. Liddell is legend in MMA. Thank you everybody. Thank you Joe Silva. Thank you very much! Woo!" Through the translator he says he'll fight whoever Joe Silva or Dana White wants him to fight - he's never picked his opponents and he won't start now. Liddell gets a big pop from the crowd before Rogan goes to interview him.

"I'm disappointed. I had a great camp, I was in great shape, but things weren't firing quite right. I gotta go home and talk to everybody but I don't know, it didn't feel right tonight." Rogan: "Whatever you decide to do, thank you for everything you've done for the sport. Ladies and gentlemen, Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell!" Bonus fight time anyone?

* Matt Wiman v. Sam Stout (Lightweight Bout - Bonus Fight)

Tale of the tape Stout to Wiman - 24 to 25, 5'9" to 5'10", 155 each, 70" to 67" in reach. Wiman is 10-4, 5'10", fighting out of Dallas. Stout is 14-5-1 and fights out of London, Ontario, Canada. Our referee in charge is Dan Miragliotta. Here we go!

Furious pace in R1. Wiman may be doing more to score with takedown attempts and striking - he's setting a Clay Guida-esque pace. ROGAN SHOUTS OUT THE UNDERGROUND. Never thought I'd hear that during a UFC broadcast.

Wiman may have gotten hurt by a liver shot in R2 with under two minutes left. He's on the ground for a long time before Stout backs away and lets him up. Wiman is constantly loking up at the block to see how much time is left until the round ends. I'd say one round apiece to each fighter going into the third.

Stout struggles for over a minute to avoid getting caught in a choke when Wiman takes his back, but finally rolls through and winds up on top with 2:30 left, then starts to punish Wiman with more shots and hammerfists. Wiman is definitely looking the worse for wear of the two men for this fight.

Wiman gets another takedown with 1:40 to go so if you're counting body locks and Octagon control he MAY be outpointing Stout. This is gonna be very very close if it goes to the scorecards. Wiman manages to bloody up Stout in standup in the final minute and that may be enough to clinch it, though I doubt his nickname will ever be Handsome again after this one.

Here's Bruce Buffer! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AFTER THREE ROUNDS WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS. ALL THREE JUDGES SCORE 29-28 FOR THE UNANIMOUS DECISION TO THE WINNER: SAM STOUT. Clearly they scored the first two for Stout and the third for Wiman. "I hit him right in the liver, dropped him, but I didn't want to jump into his guard and get caught with something. He's a phenomenal fighter. I want to thank Shawn Tompkins, everybody at Team Couture." Stout is very pleased with his performance and should be.

Channing Tatum and Cung Le are with Goldberg for an interview. Le: "I'm having such a great time, I don't know what to say, working with Channing is awesome. He went hard on me!" Tatum: "Even falling down on Le hurts. He's made of solid granite." Le: "Fighting hurts more the next day, but while you're doing movies you're working for 13 hours too. It can go either way." We go to clips from the movie.

* Anderson Silva {C} v. Thales Leites (UFC Middleweight Championship Bout)

Leites is makng his way to the cage to the strains of "Welcome to the Jungle." Silva comes out to "Ain't No Sunshine" by DMX. 34 to 27, 6'2" to 6'1", 182 to 185 and 77.5" to 78" in reach from Silva to Leites. Fighting out of the blue corner, 14-1, fighting out of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Thales Leites! The champion in the red corner - 23-4, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil, presenting the reigning and defending undisputed UFC Middleweight Champion of the World - ANDERSON 'THE SPIDERRRRRRR' SILVA! Our referee in charge is Yves Lavigne. GSP is shown in the crowd at ringside before we start. HERE WE GO!

It's over three minutes in before Leites throws a high kick that connects. In fact that may be the only strike of the entire first round to connect. The crowd has been not afraid to boo several times during this round because it's all been a big cocktease at striking and very little actual contact between the two men. Silva finally sweeps Leites to the ground with 50 seconds left.

Leites waits for him to jump guard and Andersion just lets him stand up. Leites tries to snake a leg and take Silva down with it but he can only get Silva briefly on his side before he immediately pops back up. Leites just holds him there against the fence to a chorus of boos as the round ends. We get a replay of the right hook to the body and the leg sweep that took Leites down.

Leites gets a picture perfect takedown 37 seconds into R2. For the next two minutes Anderson may be doing more damage from the bottom than his opponent, including elbows to the head. Silva escapes, Leites goes to the ground, Lavigne makes him get up with just two minutes left. Leites spends most of the last minute backing away from Silva's strikes (which mostly miss) and leg kicks (which mostly connect). We're on to round three!

Leites keeps going to his back at every opportunity. He's trying to claim an eyepoke at the 1:30 mark as he's laying on the ground. Silva's getting annoyed - he throws a flurry of leg kicks and even starts hammerfisting the ankles. The crowd is booing at first, then starts chanting G-S-P. This might end up being a 10-8 round for Silva. When Leites flops to the ground with 1:30 left to go Silva just walks away with a disgusted look on his face.

Silva is starting to turn it up with the kicks and strikes. Uppercut connects. The crowd loves that! Leites flops down with 40 seconds again. Again with 15 seconds left. The horn sounds with 10 seconds left on screen - not sure if the horn was wrong or the clock was wrong but it was better than seeing Leites lay there and get stood up again. MAKE THAT A 10-1 ROUND AND GIVE THE 10 TO SILVA.

Leites appears to have a small cut under the left eye. Mike Brown is shown in the crowd before we start round four. Silva's lower leg kicks seem to score at will. Crowd is booing again a minute in. Anderson is starting to mock Leites, practically dancing in the Octagon now, trying to get the crowd back into it. Leites takedown attempt stuffed with 2:06 left and Leites finally stands up without being told by Lavigne. Booing again with 90 seconds left.

The leg kicks and even punches to the leg are connecting. It almost seems sure that we're going to the fifth round in this one. Anderson Silva has not gone the distance in a fight since Steptember 2004. Leites flops again with 31 seconds left. Silva throws punches at his feet. Leites just backs away 'til the horn and more boos.

Thales Leites is MOVING his hands a lot more in R5 but not connecting with any strikes. Multiple takedown attempts are stuffed. He lays down again with 3:39 to go after Silva got him in the nose several times during the attempts. Silva decides to stay there on the ground with him a little at 3:17 throwing rights at his head, then backs away and forces another standup. The latest laydown has the crowd chanting BULL-SHIT in english.

Rogan: "Fans don't give a shit about tactical battles." More G-S-P chants at 2:06. Voice of the AMPN Krunch: "Let GSP get in there and kick both of their asses!" One minute to go. Leites has nothing. Silva would probably be doing more if Leites would exchange with him - I don't blame Silva for most of this. Leites goes to the ground with 20 seconds left to more boos. Lady J: "At least throw some punches the last ten seconds you guys!" Leites throws ONE. Fans keep booing as the title fight ends.

Dana, can I get a 50% refund back? C'mon. Hook me up. AND WE GO TO THE SNORECARDS FOR THE DROWSECISION.

Buffer: CROSBY 49-46, HAMILTON 48-47, BENOIT 50-46 FOR THE WINNER AND STILL UNDISPUTED UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION ANDERSON 'THE SPIDER' SILVA. Through the translator: "Things don't always work out like the public likes them to. Sorry, next time I'll give a better performance." Rogan asks what he thought of Leites laying on his back so much. Translator: "Leites is a very tough opponent from a great jiu-jitsu school. It's unfortunate.

We can't always give a spectacular show. We want to do what the crowd likes but it doesn't always work out that way." Classy on Silva's part - he refuses to bury Leites even though Rogan gave him every opportunity to do so.

That's it for UFC 97!

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