UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva successfully defended his title with a fifth round unanimous decision victory against jiu-jitsu ace and fellow Brazilian Thales Leites while Mauricio “Shogun” Rua stopped UFC legend Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell in the first round in their respective bouts at UFC 97: Redemption on April 18, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Rua dominated the fight early on by utilizing leg kicks, his overhand right, and a powerful left hook. It was the tail end of Rua’s left hook that dropped an unsuspecting and seemingly tentative Liddell. As Liddell slumped to the mat, Rua wasted no time and proceeded to pound Liddell’s face with vicious punches. This forced referee Mario Yamasaki to call a halt to the bout at 4:28 into the first round.
It might be the last time MMA fans will see Liddell inside the Octagon.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan asked Liddell in the post fight interview if he was contemplating retirement, to which Liddell responded, “I had a great camp, everything was going well. I have to go home and talk to everyone. I didn’t feel right tonight.”
In the main event, The scorecards in the five-round, middleweight championship fight read 49-46, 48-47, 50-46, all in favor of Silva who retained his UFC middleweight title and improved his professional record to 24 wins with four losses. Leites dropped to 14 and 2.
Silva, who is known for his great stand up game, seemed to be toying with Leites, although he still managed to connect with his strikes at a high percentage. Leites, who is known for his superb ground game, was not able to utilize his jiu-jitsu skills as he had trouble taking Silva down the entire fight thanks to the latter’s strong takedown defense and excellent sprawl.
Meanwhile, in the undercard, Steve Cantrell won by unanimous decision against Luiz Arthur Cane, Cheick Kongo TKO'd Antoni Hardonk in the second round, Krzysztof Soszynski submitted Brian Stann in the first round via kimura, and hometown boy Sam Stout decisioned Matt Wiman in a three-round non-title bout.
Aside from their fight purses, Stout, Wiman, Rua, and Soszynski each received lucrative $70,000 bonuses for winning Fight of the Night (Stout and Wiman), Knockout of the Night, and Submission of the Night respectively.
