Written by Scott Swerbinsky

---

In what had the potential to be one of better cards in the last few months, all UFC fans are scratching their heads. The main event was such a letdown, fans will probably forget the rest of the fights were pretty good. We saw Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell's career ended by another vicious knockout. And Anderson "Spider" Silva defended his title in one of the worst events my cousin can recall. He recaps UFC 97 for our readers in his latest column.

In what had the potential to be one of better cards in the last few months, all UFC fans are scratching their heads. The main event was such a letdown, fans will probably forget the rest of the fights were pretty good.

The major announcement after the event will possibly rescue the terrible last fight fans saw also.

UFC President Dana White said Chuck Liddell is retired. He is truly concerned for the health of the biggest star the UFC has ever seen. Liddell was brutally knocked out again.  "The Iceman" has now lost four out of his last five fights and three of those losses were by vicious knockouts.

Last night, Shogun Rua became the latest fighter to put Liddell to sleep. It was a left hand that did the damage and Liddell was out cold. He was seen asking the ref "what happened?" Chuck Liddell has had one of the best careers in UFC history and he should hand up the gloves. I have a feeling that he is going to want one more fight however. Stay tuned.

Anderson Silva defended his title in one of the worst main events I can recall. Thales Leites was embarrassing last night. Known for his ground game there were times he just fell down to try to get Silva to the ground. It was a joke and the fans in the arena were booing like I have never heard before.  Performances like that have gotten fighters cut from the UFC and Leites should be given a pink slip.

Silva himself didn't do much in the fight. It took over three minutes for either fighter to throw a punch. Two fights in a row, the man everyone sees as the pound for pound king is mma, has been less than impressive. I think he's getting bored fighting guys that don't belong in the octagon with him. I see only two fights for him in the near future. One is a rematch against a much improved Nate Marquardt or a mega fight versus Georges St. Pierre. 

The lackluster final fight took away for some other solid matches on the card.

The fight of the night to me was Steve Cantwell and Luis Cane. It was a back and forth standup battle with giant shots being landed by both fighters. It was a very close contest and hard to judge, Cane ended up with the split decision victory.  Cantwell was busted up bad and kept coming but just couldn't land bomb that would have iced the contest.  A great performance by two guys that have a very bright future in the UFC.

Full results:

Anderson Silva def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46)

Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:28

Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) - Round 1, 3:53

Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 2:29

Luiz Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:27

Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 4:57

T.J. Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

It was a pretty good card overall but I can't get the horrible taste of that main event out of my mouth.  UFC fans deserve better performances by the top fighters in the world. When a guy in the main event simply puts on an embarrassing performance, it's frustrating. It takes a lot for me to find issues with fighters because of what they do for a living, but certain things can't be overlooked. Thales Leites ruined my evening.