UFC 97 Recap - Good Luck Chuck

At -600 and with his middleweight title and records on the line, the heavy online betting favorite Anderson “The Spider” Silva got the job done against number one contender Thales Leites (+350) with a five-round unanimous decision in the main event on Saturday evening. While retaining the championship, Silva claimed the UFC record for most consecutive wins with nine and tied the mark for most consecutive title defenses with six.

However, considering oddsmakers and MMA wagering fan's respect given to Silva heading into the fight, the victory was far from impressive. The lackluster 25-minute bout earned many boos from the sold-out crowd at the Bell Centre for it’s lack of action oddly throughout the fight. But anyway you dice it, Silva's still the champ and bettors who supported him got paid. Scores were 49-46, 48-47, and 50-46. With the win, the 34-year old Silva improves to 24-4, while Leites drops to 14-2. But the hefty underdog deserves credit for taking the champ the distance in a title fight for the first time.

In the co-main event, 39-year old UFC superstar Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell returned to the Octagon, as the modest BetUS UFC odds favorite priced at -200, looking for one last run against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (+150). But late in Round 1, “The Iceman” was melted by Rua in what may of been Liddell's last fight of his career.

With less than a minute remaining in the opening round, a Rua left hook found its mark on the head of Liddell, who went down the canvas. Liddell was clearly rocked and Rua took note with a series of right hands that forced referee Mario Yamasaki to stop the fight at the 4:28 mark. With the win, Rua improves to 18-3 and places himself back into the light heavyweight mix, while Liddell drops to 21-7 possibly with his last UFC payday ever.

TUF's Season 8’s Krzysztof "The Polish Experiment" Soszynski (-155) scored an impressive victory, submitting Brian "All American" Stann (+115) in the first round. It was a win made even sweeter as the Winnipeg fighter delighted MMA fans in Canada. Soszynski posted the win by cranking on the former WEC light heavyweight champion’s arm, forcing Stann to tap out at the 3:53 mark. Soszynski improved to 18-9-1; Stann falls to 6-2.

Cheick Kongo (-300) climbed further up the heavyweight ranks in his bout with the dangerous striker Antoni Hardonk (+200), using an effective ground and pound attack to halt his opponent in the second round. Round 1 was highlighted by the two big men trying to end the fight quickly with their trademark kicks, which neither fighter landed or else it would of been game over for one of the two.

Kongo turned up the heat to start the second round. Just prior to the halfway point Hardonk was worn down and was bleeding from the nose, as the French warrior continued to unleash on Hardonk. Referee Yves Lavigne saved Hardonk's ass at 2:29 into the round after an unanswered barrage of devastating shots being landed by Kongo, who moved to a very respectable 24-4-1, while Hardonk stumbled to 8-5.