UFC 97: Redemption

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Contents

Background

UFC 97: Redemption is a 12-bout fight card that is set to take place on April 18, 2009 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

The card will air live on Pay-Per-View at 7pm PT/10pm ET and will feature a middleweight title fight as its main event between current UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva and fellow Brazilian, Thales Leites.

A light heavyweight match-up between former UFC light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell and 2005 PRIDE middleweight Grand Prix winner, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua will serve as the co-main event.

Fight Card

Preliminary Card

Main Card

Pre-Event Notes

Before the event there was a danger that the event might have to have been moved to Las Vegas or cancelled completely after the commission that overseas MMA in Montreal decided to go by the letter of their law that they had been ignoring in the past and try to instigate their own rules for a mixed martial arts event. The commission wanted no knees or elbows to the head and a knockdown rule. The UFC and the commission compromised in the end and the event was allowed to go on as originally planned only with no foot stomps allowed.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva enters UFC 97 with an undefeated 8-0 mark in the Octagon, which is tied for the most successive victories in UFC history. With a win over Thales Leites he will break that record and will achieve his fifth title defense which will equal the UFC record held by Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes.

Results

Preliminary Card

Main Card

A rejuvenated looking Shogun came out landing some solid leg kicks. After a scramble on the feet, Shogun managed a takedown from a body lock on an off balance Liddell. Following a heel hook submission attempt by Rua the fight returned to the feet. Liddell scored a takedown and immediately stood up. Shortly after Shogun collected Liddell with a lunging left hook that put him down hard. Some follow up punches forced referee, Mario Yamasaki to stop the bout.

In a dull fight, a tentative Leites refused to engage on the feet and resorted to sloppy guard pull attempts for the duration of the fight. Silva was unable to make anything happen on the feet as he was given nothing to counter off. Silva was clearly the dominant fighter however and after five rounds was awarded the unanimous decision win and the fifth defense of his middleweight title. He also broke the UFC record (8) for most consecutive victories in the process.

Bonus Awards

Fight Of The Night: Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman

Submission Of The Night: Krzysztof Soszynski

Knockout Of The Night: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

  • Each bonus was worth $70,000

UFC Event Chronology

Preceded by: UFC Fight Night 18

Followed by: UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida

External Links

http://97.ufc.com - Official UFC 97 Website

http://www.cagepotato.com/ufc-97-redemption-%E2%80%94-liveblog-covered-cheese-curds-and-gravy - Cage Potato Live Play by Play

--Sam Cupitt 06:25, April 20, 2009 (UTC)

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