Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) today confirmed several bouts for its upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) event scheduled for the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on April 18, 2009.

UFC 97: "Redemption" features middleweight champion Anderson Silva, putting his 185-pound title on the line against number one division contender, Thales Leites. In the co-main event, Mauricio Rua — fresh off his less-than-thrilling victory over Mark "The Hammer" Coleman at UFC 93 — will challenge former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.

The stacked card also includes the debut of Canadian phenom TJ Grant and return of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) veterans Nate "The Rock" Quarry and Matt "Handsome" Wiman.

And former middleweight contender David "The Crow" Loiseau — who recently spent some time in smaller promotions to work his way back up to the big show — will look to keep himself on the roster when he clashes with Ed "Short Fuse" Herman.

Here is the complete UFC 97 line up:

Main event:

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva (23-4) vs. Thales Leites (14-1)

Main card (Televised):

205 lbs.: Chuck Liddell (21-6) vs. Mauricio Rua (17-3)
205 lbs.: Brian Stann (6-1) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (16-8-1)
265 lbs.: Cheick Kongo (13-4-1) vs. Antoni Hardonk (8–4)
205 lbs.: Luis Cane (9-1) vs. Steve Cantwell (7-1)

Under card:

185 lbs.: Denis Kang (31-11-1) vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokum (20-9)
185 lbs.: Jason MacDonald (21-11) vs. Nate Quarry (10-3)
185 lbs.: David Loiseau (18-8) vs. Ed Herman (14-7)
155 lbs.: Mark Bocek (6-2) vs. David Bielkheden (13-6)
170 lbs.: Ryo Chonan (16-8) vs. TJ Grant (13-2)
155 lbs.: Matt Wiman (10-4) vs. Sam Stout (13-5-1)

For all the latest UFC 97 information you can handle be sure to hit up our event archive right here. Remember that we will also provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of all the action on fight night.

It’s going to be a great night of fights … don’t miss it.