Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites (Middleweight Title Bout)

Anderson Silva is to MMA, what Beethoven is to classical music. What Silva has done inside the Octagon since joining the UFC in June 2006 is nothing short of spectacular. He has faced 8 men. He has finished 8 men. Only one has made it past the second round with him. His dynamic MMA game has been highlighted by his deadly Muay Thai game, but he also has a pair of submissions inside the UFC over one of the best black belts in the world (Travis Lutter) and a man who had never been submitted by a choke (Dan Henderson). He also holds a pair of brutal KO’s over former champion Rich Franklin, a TKO of perennial Top 10 fighter Nate Marquardt, a 60 second KO at 205-pounds over James Irvin, an injury TKO over Patrick Cote, and another highlight reel KO in his UFC debut over the iron-chinned Chris Leben. The path of destruction Silva has left in his wake has been filled with a legacy that he will look to continue Saturday night, as he looks to break a record he shares with Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch for most consecutive victories inside the UFC’s Octagon. A win over Leites will be a record breaking ninth consecutive UFC win.

Thales Leites will look to be the final hurdle in Silva’s historic run at nine consecutive UFC wins. Leites is a world-class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, who came to the UFC based on a tip given to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva from UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn who has trained with Leites, as both are decorated Nova União black belts. After dropping a hard fought decision in his UFC debut to Martin Kampmann in November 2006, Leites has strung together five consecutive victories without looking back. During that streak he has earned decision victories over Pete Sell and Nate Marquardt and submission victories over Floyd Sword, Ryan Jensen, and Drew McFedries. His jiu-jitsu game has been on full display during that run by securing an assortment of various submissions from every angle once the fight hit the ground. He secured an Arm-Triangle Choke over Sword, he latched an Armbar on Jensen, and applied a Rear Naked Choke against McFedries.

While the ground game is Leites’ obvious strong point, he has looked a bit timid at times when engaging on the feet. His lack of a balanced attack could prove to be his downfall against the cerebral and vicious onslaught that Silva loves to unleash. That combined with the desire to seek “redemption” (as the event nickname implies) for his last uninspired win against Cote, should make Silva all that more aggressive. That makes a deadly combination. A motivated Silva should be unstoppable at this weight. I predict Leites will look to avoid exchanges on the feet by looking for an early takedown by clinching with Silva. From there it’s only a matter of time before Silva explodes with a vise-like Muay Thai clinch, where he will explode with a variety of knees and fists that will likely earn Silva the “KO of the Night” bonus in front of an excited Canadian crowd.

Prediction: Anderson Silva via TKO (Strikes).



Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (Light-Heavyweight Bout)

Chuck Liddell is a first ballot UFC Hall of Fame fighter. From April 2004 to May 2007 he was untouchable. He strung together seven consecutive TKO’s while displaying some of the most violent punching power the sport has ever witnessed. Two of those TKO’s were against UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, two were against former UFC champion Tito Ortiz, and the other three were against the always-game Vernon “Tiger” White, Jeremy Horn, and Renato “Babalu” Sobral. That reign of dominance, right at the height of MMA’s mainstream explosion, made Liddell arguably the most popular MMA fighter in the world. The streak was finally snapped in May 2007 courtesy of a Quinton “Rampage” Jackson KO loss and Liddell’s career has gone into somewhat of a tailspin since. Some people attribute it to his age and a nagging hamstring injury, while others suggest it has to do with years of battle damage. Whatever the case may be, Liddell has lost three of his last four bouts, which include a pair of leg-twitching KO losses.

Liddell’s opponent Saturday night, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, has experienced much of the same success, as well as similar frustrations in his most recent outings. Shogun cemented his place in MMA history when he entered the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament as a heavy underdog. In the first round of the tournament, Shogun defeated the heavily favored Quinton “Rampage” Jackson via TKO in 4:47 of Round 1. Shogun dominated the fight from beginning to end, breaking Rampage’s ribs with knee strikes, and ending the fight with brutal soccer kicks to the face. Rampage (the same man who has KO’d Liddell twice) would later state that Shogun is the best fighter he has ever fought. After that win, Shogun would go on to defeat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona to become the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix champion. After winning the tournament, Shogun would drop only one bout (due to a freakish elbow injury against Mark Coleman), while defeating four others. Then the Zuffa buyout of PRIDE took place in the spring of 2007, which would merge the UFC and PRIDE. Since that merger, Shogun has suffered two debilitating knee injuries and a submission loss to Forrest Griffin in his UFC debut. He would return to the Octagon this past January to avenge his freakish loss to Coleman, but his performance still left a lot to be desired. He gassed quickly and failed to display his killer instinct, which he showed in PRIDE. Some people think it has to do with lack of proper training due to his knee surgeries, while others say the UFC’s Octagon confinement and rule which disallows soccer kicks, may have also played a factor.

Needless to say, Liddell and Shogun are both in desperate need of a win Saturday night in an attempt to regain their past glory and champion caliber status. Both men are coming off tough injuries and discouraging losses. Once the figureheads of the UFC and PRIDE organizations, they are now the victims of ridicule from many bandwagon fans. Neither man will enjoy a “home court” advantage, as the fight will be taking place north of the border in the comfy confines of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Shogun will be enjoying one significant advantage. That is the benefit of father time, as Shogun is 12 years younger. Where that would be a significant advantage in most situations, Liddell has always shown to have better cardio in his fights. He is also a much bigger man than Shogun who some feel would be better suited fighting as a middleweight like his older brother Murilo “Ninja” Rua. I see this fight going the distance, much like Liddell’s fight with Shogun’s former Chute Boxe stable mate Wanderlei Silva. Liddell should use his size advantage and takedown defense to his benefit en route to a Unanimous Decision victory.

Prediction: Chuck Liddell via Unanimous Decision.



Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk (Heavyweight Bout)

This fight has “Fight of the Night” written all over it. It also has the