UFC 99: The Comeback in Cologne, Germany is going to be a slugfest and for good reason. The “Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva looks to re-claim his dominance in the octagon by squaring up against fan favorite, Rich “Ace” Franklin at a catchweight bout of 195 lbs. After suffering four losses in his last five matches (two in the UFC), this may be Silva’s last chance to redeem himself in search of a title shot.



Since making his debut in the UFC, Wanderlei Silva has not been the dominant fighter fans were used to seeing in his infamous Pride days. Once classified as one of the most aggressive MMA fighters in the world, Wanderlei’s debut match in the Ultimate Fighting Championships was a match years in the making against the “Ice Man” Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. After three dominating rounds, Liddell walked away with the win and the glory. It wouldn’t look any better for Silva winning his only fight against Keith Jardine at UFC 84 and losing again to Rampage Jackson at UFC 92. If he’s going to be a serious contender, he’s going to need to take this fight very seriously.


The remainder of the card seems to be very promising also, featuring the return of Mike “The Quick” Swick against “Big” Ben Saunders and heavy handed Marcus Davis against Dan Hardy. Enjoy the fights!


MAIN CARD


Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva
Heath Herring vs. Cain Velasquez
Ben Saunders vs. Mike Swick
Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy
Spencer Fisher vs. Caol Uno


PRELIMINARY CARD


Justin Buchholz vs. Terry Etim
Dale Hartt vs. Denis Siver
Peter Sobotta vs. Paul Taylor
Roli Delgado vs. Paul Kelly
Denis Stojnic vs. Stefan Struve
Mustapha al Turk vs. Todd Duffee
John Hathaway vs. Rick Story

In what might possibly be the last appearance of Chuck Liddell in the UFC, the limelight of one of the greatest strikers in MMA history quickly shifted to an utter dissapointing fight of the night between Middlewight Champion Anderson Silva and Jui-Jitsu practitioner Thales Leites.


In the wake of one of Silva’s most unexciting fights of his career against Patrick Cote, in which the uneventful bout ended with a devestating self sustained injury to Cote, it appeared the Brazilian was ready to redeem himself with an exciting title defense against Leites.  Too bad it only appeared that way. 


From start to finish, Silva displayed the aggression of a sedated sloth and made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Leites’ ground game. For five rounds, Leites kept trying to bait Silva into his guard hoping that his skills on the ground would make up for his obvious lack of skills on his feet. It obviously didn’t work.


I can’t put the entire blame on Silva as it would be against better common sense to just charge into an opponent only to create a more entertaining fight for fans. I recognize and respect the ability of the counter puncher but when opportunities to counter never present itself, you must embrace the role of the aggressor or you’ll end up with what we saw last night. I’ve seen more exciting fights at recess.


On the plus side, Luis Cane and Steve Cantwell gave the fans what they wanted with one of the more exciting matches I’ve seen in quite some time. The twenty two year old Cantwell held his own in the Octagon, making good use of his quick leg striking ability against the tough chinned Cane. Unfortunatley, it wasn’t enough to win the fight in the eyes of the judges. Here are the results from the other fights at UFC 97: Redemption



1. Vinny Magalhaes def. Eliot Marshall (decision)
2. TJ Grant def. Ryo Chonan (decision)
3. Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden (rear naked choke)
4. Ed Herman def. David Loiseau (decision)
5. Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald (TKO)
6. Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam (decision)
7. Luiz Cane def. Steve Cantwell (decision)
8. Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk (TKO)
9. Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann (kimura)
10. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua def. Chuck Liddell (TKO)
11. Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman (decision)
12. Anderson Silva def. Thales Leites (decision)

Like most, but not all of you out there, I am a relative newcomer to the sport of MMA spectating.  I may not have seen Helio Gracie war it out with Valdemar Santana for 4 hours but I sure as hell saw Rampage knock the tattoos off Wanderlei Silva’s bald head.  The sport is fast paced, exciting, and humbling to those who watch in awe of the athletes that we will never become.  And what two athletes represent the talent and speed of the game more than B.J. “The Prodigy” Penn and Georges “Rush” St. Pierre?  Following consecutive losses to St. Pierre and Matt Hughes, a re-dedicated BJ Penn continued on to 3 consecutive victories against Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson, and former Lightweight champion Sean Sherk.  The only man to beat Penn and not be beaten back is St. Pierre who right now still looks like the best fighter out of the Welterweight division.  Its been a literal and figurative uphill climb for the champion who has labored long and hard to get to the pinnacle of his profession.  He is coming off 4 straight impressive victories and is looking to add a title defense against Penn to his resume.  The competition kicks up this Saturday at UFC 94 on pay-per-view. First punch is thrown at 7pm PT/10pm ET.