The Iceman Returneth: UFC Announces Main Events for UFC 96, 97

I'm continuing to sift through the UFC 93 videos, so I'll reserve comment on the entire card until that's done. However, I just finished Mark Coleman vs. Shogun Rua and was disappointed at how out of gas these guys were after one round. It was too bad that Coleman couldn't hang on at the end, but the ref did make the right decision in stopping the fight.

After Rua connected with that uppercut, Coleman dropped and wasn't in any position to defend himself, hence the stoppage. If you throw out how much time was left ( sometimes a reason people are upset at stoppages) and I think most fans would agree the stoppage was just.

Coleman is now 44 years old and I wonder if he's got any draw left to justify keeping him on board. I wasn't impressed with Rua at all and thought that a guy that was almost 20 years younger than his opponent should have showed more than that - especially in a grudge match like this.

But Rua will have his chance at redemption in just a few months as UFC President Dana White announced two main events for upcoming shows after UFC 93 had concluded.

UFC 96 (March 7)

The organization's return to the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, will be main evented by Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson (seen above) vs. Keith Jardine. If Jackson wins, it's expected his next opponent will be Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. Jardine is Evans' teammate and one of his good friends, so that will be a fun storyline to finish. Evans has said that he would never fight Jardine, but if the 'Dean of Mean' can pull off a victory, you have to wonder if he would feel the same way.

The undercard features Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, Dustin Hazelett vs. Ben Saunders, Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz and Jim Miller vs. Gray Maynard. Brandon Vera, Kendall Grove and more are also expected in action.

UFC 97 (April 18)

Another set of light heavyweights will do it up in the UFC's return to Montreal as Chuck Liddell vs. Shogun Rua has been inked and announced. The two were supposed to battle at UFC 85, but Shogun had to pull out with injury. But with Liddell just 1-3 in his last four fights and Rua coming off a lackluster win against Coleman, this fight will have to be spun in order to grab significant interest from PPV buyers.

Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva will defend the gold against Thales Leites, Ed Herman battles Canadian David Loiseau and Tamdan McCrory fights Canadian Jonathan Goulet. Roger Huerta was originally scheduled to fight Sean Sherk, but Huerta recently announced he's taking a break from MMA to focus on acting. The fight still might happen, reported as recently as this past Thursday.

Josh Nason—josh [at] ropesringandcage [dot com]—has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. If you are using any content or recapping from this site, please include a link to www.ropesringandcage.com. Thank you for your support!