UFC 97 Preview

This Saturday the UFC will return to Canada with UFC 97. Headlining the event is the UFC’s best pound for pound fighter Anderson “The Spider” Silva defending his prestigious middleweight title against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert Thales Leites. Before I touch on that fight though, let me run through the rest of the card.

The first fight of the night has Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (13-5) going up against “Handsome” Matt Wiman (10-4). Stout is coming into this bout off of two losses. One of those being to Rich Clementi, and the other to Terry Etim. Wiman will enter the fight coming off of a lose to Jim Miller, however at UFC 85 Wiman knocked out Thiago Tavares. Wiman is a tough guy, he has only been finished once in his career, and that was to Spencer Fisher. I see him keeping the fight standing, and picking up a knockout victory over Stout.

Second fight of the night has former Pride fighter Ryo Chonan (16-8) taking on UFC new comer TJ Grant (13-2). I see Ryo walking away with the win in this one. He is a very seasoned veteran who has had fights with MMA greats such as Dan Henderson and Carlos Newton. What he is most remembered for though is his win over UFC champion Anderson Silva in Pride where he defeated him with a flying scissors heel hook. I see Ryo winning this fight by decision.

Next up we have Mark Bocek (6-2) fighting David Bielkheden (13-6). Both fighters are coming into this fight off of wins and are looking to further prove themselves to UFC management. They are fairly evenly matched, but I give a slight edge to Bocek in this one. He has excellent Jiu-Jitsu, he has won four out of his six career wins by submission. I’m going with Bocek by submission.

I’m very excited about this next fight, but am upset with UFC for not having it over the main card over Krzystof and Stann. It is the return of “The Crow” David Loiseau (18-8) taking on Ed Herman (16-6). For those not familiar with Loiseau, he has some of the fiercest elbows in all of MMA, you don’t want this guy on top of you. Herman is also a very exciting fighter, with only three of his professional fights going to decision. Herman is coming into this bout off of two straight losses to Maia and Belcher, so he should be looking for a win if he wants to keep his job. I think that Loiseau will be able to get him to the ground and pound him out for the victory. I’m going with Loiseau by TKO.

Fifth fight of the night puts Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald (22-11) up against Nate Quarry (16-3). MacDonald holds three Submission of the Night honors, and is coming into this fight off of a first round TKO loss against Wilson Gouveia. Quarry also enters the fight off of a lose to BJJ expert Demian Maia. This is a very close fight to call, but I think Quarry will control the fight with his wrestling and come away with a TKO or decision win.

Next up is former Pride fighter Denis Kang (31-11) welcoming to the UFC “Professor X” Xavier Foupa-Pokam (20-9). Kang made his much anticipated UFC debut at UFC 93 against Alan Belcher, where he dominated the fight up until getting caught in a guillotine by Belcher. Xavier is currently riding a seven fight win streak, and looks to keep the momentum going by taking out a proven fighter like Kang. Xavier has a lot of potential, but his whole career he has been fighting at small shows, and I think he is going to be nervous fighting in front of a large crowd for the first time. I have to go with Kang in this one due to experience.

The last prelim of the night pits two TUF alumni against each other when Eliot Marshall (6-2) takes on Vinny Magalhaes (3-3). Marshall had a successful UFC debut when he choked out Jules Bruchez, while Vinny came up short in his UFC debut after getting knocked out by Ryan Bader. I feel that Marshall is a better all around fighter, but I think that Vinny will be able to catch him with a submission and win this fight.

Now onto the main card. First fight has Steve Cantwell (7-1) versus Luiz Cane (10-1). Both men have looked very impressive as of late. Cantwell enters the fight after taking out Razak Al-Hassan in his last bout with an armbar. Cane was last seen in action against Sokoudjou, who he TKO’d in the second round. Cane’s only loss comes by way of DQ from an illegal knee to the face of James Irvin. While Cantwell certainly has a bright future, I think Cane will just be too much for him. I’m going with Cane by (T)ko

Next we have Cheick Kongo (23-4) taking on Antoni Hardonk (8-4) in what should be a slugfest. Both men are kick boxers that love to trade blows, so this fight should be nothing short of exciting. Kongo seems to get better every fight, and I think he will out strike Hardonk to walk away with his arm raised.

Third main card fight has Krzysztof Soszynski (16-8) fighting Brian Stann (6-1). Not to be disrespectful towards either fighter, but I’m more concerned with why this is on the main card as apposed to who I think will be victorious. I do believe that Stann will win via knock out.

The co-main event of the night features two world class strikers as “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell will battle against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. I think we all remember Liddell’s last fight where he received a vicious right hand by Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans that put him to sleep. Although Shogun won his last fight against Mark Coleman, he didn’t look so hot either, after he gassed early into the second round. The thing about Shogun is, while he was ranked as the number one Light Heavyweight in the world for a while, half of his game was soccer kicks which are not allowed in the UFC. In a way, Liddell is only fighting half of Shogun. With that being said, I am actually going with Shogun, I think that he will pull off the upset against Liddell. He has a lot to prove right now, and I don’t think he is taking this fight lightly what so ever. As long as he shows up in great shape, he has a great shot at taking out Chuck. However, if he shows up in the same shape he did against Coleman, Liddell will easily pick up a highlight reel knockout.

The main event of the evening has pound for pound king Anderson Silva defending his Middleweight Championship against BJJ expert Thales Leites. Leites is coming into this fight after winning his last five. He has great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and has won nine of his fourteen wins by submission. However, I do not think he is a big threat to Anderson. I think the only way Silva loses this fight is by beating himself, by not taking Leites seriously. I think Anderson wins this fight easily.

So that wraps up my UFC 97 preview, I hope you all enjoy the fights. Be sure to check out the magazine I currently write for, MMA Authority Magazine. If there is any fighters you would like me to interview or any stories you would like me to cover, or if you simply want to give me some feedback on my work, feel free to email me at Kjohnston@authoritymag.com