UFC 97 Predictions and Discussion Thread: Silva v. Leites and Liddell v. Shogun

Main Card

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites[1]
• Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua[1]
• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk[1]
• Light Heavyweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Arthur Cane[1]
• Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann[1]

Preliminary Card

• Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vinicius Magalhães[1]
• Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam[1]
• Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry[1]
• Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman[1]
• Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden[1]
• Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant[1]
• Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman[1]

I will be updating the thread throughout the day with information and my predictions. When the event starts you can make this your official discussion thread for anything and everything UFC 97.

Main Card

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites[1]-------- Anderson Silva Ko, easily
• Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua[1] ------------------ Chuck (Even though I want Shogun to win.... badly)
• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk[1] ------------------- Kongo, he just keeps improving
• Light Heavyweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Arthur Cane[1] ---------------------Luiz Cane
• Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann[1] -------------------- Krzysztof.... I don't really care though, Proff X andKangshould be on the main care instead of this.

Preliminary Card

• Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vinicius Magalhães[1] -------------------Vinicius, his ground game is top, but he has no heart
• Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam[1] --------------------- I think Kang will take it, but he's always made silly mistakes.
• Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry[1] --------------------------- Quarry Ko, used to think he wasn't great but he's improved so much
• Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman[1] ------------- I hope David takes this as Ed is an idiot
• Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden[1] --------- Bocek, but I want David to win
• Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant[1] --------- Chonan
• Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman[1] ------- hmmmmm tough one but I 'd say Stout....

The undercard is looking amazing. I can't wait for this event :)

Another knockout for Silva, heard it might be his last match? Also, another loss for the aged Liddell, and a much needed win for Shogun.

I want The Crow to win too. It would also be nice if Shogun won and won convincingly. That would make the future of the UFC so much better. If Rua loses, he could get fired and we would be left with an Iceman that could retire any day now.

Another knockout for Silva, heard it might be his last match? Also, another loss for the aged Liddell, and a much needed win for Shogun.

immortality20

Liddell is from my town so I gotta root for him. Plus he is awesome.

Why would silva leave? He should go to a different division because middle weight is the weakest BY FAR. Go to LHW and try it there big boy. He would get jacked up so quick in LHW.SwampKitten

I remember Silva saying he wanted to try boxing, but that was a while back. It looks like Wanderlei and Anderson have taken a dislike to each other, which saddens me. If Wand and Anderson fight I don't know who I'd root for.

I think Chuck still has it, he was dominating the fight with Rashad untill the KO, yeah he lost to Rampage and Jardine, but they are tough guys. I'm seriously worried about Shogun though, I can't get over how bad his cardio has become, I remember in Pride he used to fight 20 minutes at a high pace and not gas. Now Shogungasses in the second round *sigh*

All in all it's a good card and I'm excited about it.

[QUOTE="SwampKitten"]Why would silva leave? He should go to a different division because middle weight is the weakest BY FAR. Go to LHW and try it there big boy. He would get jacked up so quick in LHW.Chutebox

Do you guys not remember when Silva moved up to fight James Irving and won in under a minute? That was amazing.

Do you guys not remember when Silva moved up to fight James Irving and won in under a minute? That was amazing.

immortality20

Do you guys not remember when Silva moved up to fight James Irving and won in under a minute? That was amazing.

immortality20

Bold and underlined for emphasis. :)

well this might be one of the easier predictions UFC title fight history. id say silva has this in the bag. though there some pretty big joke fights when liddell was on that long rampage as the LHW champ and they were running out of fighters to throw at him.

Yooo big fight tonight the only fight i care about is Chuck Liddell beating shogun rua go The Iceman .Hope silva wins aswell cause hes awsome

Cya After

Peace Out :D

Should be a fairly easy victory for SIlva. Also I want Jason MacDonald to win because he is from my hometown.

[QUOTE="SwampKitten"]Why would silva leave? He should go to a different division because middle weight is the weakest BY FAR. Go to LHW and try it there big boy. He would get jacked up so quick in LHW.Chutebox

I will only do the main card I havent seen some of the fighters on the undercard...

Main Card

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites[1] --I say Silva but I think Leites will give him a nice test..
• Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua[1] --Rua, age is catching up to the Iceman...
• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk[1] --Kongo
• Light Heavyweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Arthur Cane[1] --Cane
• Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann[1] --I havent seen either fight, but If I had to pick I would go with Stann (USA)..

so whos watching the ultimate fighter UK vs US....who do you think is the favorites in each weight cla$$ so far???

Anderson Silva will never fight Machida as they are friends, but I think it would be a close fight with Machida taking it by UD.

Shogun looked pretty bad in his last fight, and i guess the same can be said about his entire ufc career. (no soccer kicks QQ)

So my money is on liddell even though i'm not a fan of his, and i think his game is a bit one dimentional.

I'm looking forward to the Cheick Kongo fight. I think it's strange that he isn't higher on the ladder.

Krzysztof Soszynsk..... That must be an announcers worst nightmare.

UFC 97 is getting closer. I am going to hit the gym, do some essays for college, and then enjoy a great night of fights.jfcundiff

Silav is gonna wreck Leites, his Muay Thai is just too good. As for Liddell vs. Shogun, it can go either way. Hua used to be an amazing kick boxer, but lately he's been iffy. I hope Hua wins and makes a come back, but Liddell is one tough dude.Setsa

[QUOTE="Setsa"]Silav is gonna wreck Leites, his Muay Thai is just too good. As for Liddell vs. Shogun, it can go either way. Hua used to be an amazing kick boxer, but lately he's been iffy. I hope Hua wins and makes a come back, but Liddell is one tough dude.Paladin_King

Main Card

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites Silva
• Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua Chuck, but I want Shogun to take it
• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk Kongo
• Light Heavyweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Arthur Cane Cane
• Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann Krzysztof

Preliminary Card

• Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vinicius Magalhães I think Elliot will knock him out, if it goes to the ground vinny easy
• Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam Kang easily
• Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry Tough fight but I think Jason will sub Quarry
• Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman Loiseau I hope
• Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden Bocek
• Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant Chonan
• Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman Stout I hope

Main Card

• Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites Silva
• Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua Chuck, but I want Shogun to take it
• Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk Kongo
• Light Heavyweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Arthur Cane Cane
• Light Heavyweight bout: Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann Krzysztof

Preliminary Card

• Light Heavyweight bout: Eliot Marshall vs. Vinicius Magalhães I think Elliot will knock him out, if it goes to the ground vinny easy
• Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam Kang easily
• Middleweight bout: Jason MacDonald vs. Nate Quarry Tough fight but I think Jason will sub Quarry
• Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman Loiseau I hope
• Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden Bocek
• Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant Chonan
• Lightweight bout: Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman Stout I hope

FlyingArmbar

Exactly how I feel about the card except that i think Wiman will win and I'm not sure if Xavier will be as easy a fight for Kang as one would think.

[QUOTE="Chutebox"][QUOTE="SwampKitten"]Why would silva leave? He should go to a different division because middle weight is the weakest BY FAR. Go to LHW and try it there big boy. He would get jacked up so quick in LHW.gunswordfist

MW isn't a bad division, HW is much weaker. It has quite a few talented fighters, it's just that Silva is so good that few of them can provide him with legitimate competition.

Anderson Silva
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Michael Bisping
Rich Franklin (Probably staying at LHW for awhile)
Dan Henderson (Same as rich)
Wanderlei Silva
Patrick Cote
Denis Kang
Chris Leben
Thales Leites
Jason MacDonald
Demian Maia
Nate Marquardt
Dan Miller
Yushin Okami
Rousimar Palhares
Nate Quarry

That's just from memory, so I'm sure I left out a few names.

I'll go with:

Silva

Shogun

Kongo

Crazy Horse

Krzystof

Luis Cane

Vinny

Xavier

MacDonald

The Crow

Biekheden

Chonan

Sam Stout

Please, who is Thales Leites compared to Silva, his matches are becoming easier every time, I wonder why he backed up from fighting Bisbing lol.

What time does it start again?!!MgamerBD

Whelp, so far Marshall won a Unanimous Decision in an ugly fight. Vinny didn't look bad at all though. He's gotten better.

Grant pulled the upset and eeked out a split decision against Chonan

Bocek put on a clinic, winning by RNC in the first

And as we speak, Loiseau has had his ass kicked by Herman for two rounds. Herman is just on fire and Loiseau just isn't looking good on his return.

Edit: Herman wins via brutal unanimous decision. 30-27, 30-27, 30-26. Ouch.

Please, who is Thales Leites compared to Silva, his matches are becoming easier every time, I wonder why he backed up from fighting Bisbing lol.

HAZE-Unit

So far I thoughtLuiz won the first round and Cantwell won the second.