UFC 97 Preview & Predictions

(Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

CHUCK LIDDELL VS. MAURICIO SHOGUN RUA

I never thought we'd get to the point where Chuck Liddell is taking part in a loser leaves town match, but that's exactly what Chuck is up against in this fight against the former top-ranked light heavyweight in the world. Dana White has been quoted as saying that Chuck has to win this fight and win "like the old Chuck used to" in order for Dana to want to see him fight again, which basically means Chuck needs to finish Rua in order to continue his UFC career.

It's not like the UFC will release him and allow him to go to Affliction. But he'll be strongly pressured to retire and become a goodwill ambassador for the company, and even the concept of Chuck Liddell being forced into retirement would have seemed ludicrous two years ago. 

Yet, here we stand, with Chuck on the verge of a forced retirement if he's not able to finish Shogun Rua.

Shogun beat Mark Coleman in his last fight, but in a strange way, it was more like a defeat than an actual defeat would have been.

The fact that he couldn't finish an aging, one-dimensional grappler who exhausted his gas tank within the first 45 seconds of the fight did more harm than the victory did good, and as a result Shogun finds himself in the same position that Liddell currently occupies; he not only needs a win, but he needs a finish. 

If he can't finish Liddell, Rua will probably be the recipient of a one-way ticket back to Japan.

This is one of those "too little, too late" fights that would have been a dream fight two years ago. Two of the best strikers in the world, the two best light heavyweights in the world, going toe to toe and attempting to kill each other? Yes, please. In 2009 the fight doesn't mean even remotely as much, but it'll still be an interesting bout.

For the first time in recent memory, Chuck Liddell actually changed up his training methods. Instead of relying solely on The Pit, Liddell surrounded himself with folks from American Top Team. He'd been criticized as being too one-dimensional, and training with ATT was an attempt to change things up, to bring a fresh new perspective to Chuck's in-cage style. 

Will it work? Remains to be seen. We've never seen much of Chuck outside of the standard Chuck style, so I can't tell you how successful he's going to be. If the Shogun Rua from PRIDE shows up, then Chuck could be in for a very short night. But I've said "if the Shogun Rua from PRIDE shows up" twice now in the past year and a half, and you see where it's gotten me.

So while there's some bloom off the rose in this one, I'm still interested enough to be really intrigued by the matchup. I've grown tired of waiting on "the real Shogun" to show up, however, so I'm going to go with my gut and predict that Liddell finishes a listless (and nearly useless) Shogun and sends him straight into the arms of DREAM.

PREDICTION: Chuck Liddell by TKO (Round One)

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?