UFC 97 press conference pics for 'Redemption'

by MMAmania.com on Apr 16, 2009 8:37 PM EDT

Perhaps this shot will get the Maniacs out there fired up for Saturday:

Check out Chuck Liddell and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua facing off after the jump!

Thanks as always to Tracy Lee at CombatLifestyle.com for the great shots. To check out the complete UFC 97 press conference photo gallery click here.

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Comments

I may be wayy of here, but anyone else think that if Silva dismantles Leites in the first round and comes out unscathed, he could possibly be put on the ufc 100 card? I guess they may not have an opponent that fast but who knows, maybe maia or Marquardt would be ready for then.

by snow87 on Apr 16, 2009 8:41 PM EDT reply actions

i honestly think if anderson makes it through easily as he should then he may move up to lhw and fight someone with some name recognition like chuck or shogun. i cant imagine silva and cuck not being on 100 so what better time to make this fight happen. and in the mean time have maia and marquardt fight at 102 for no. 2 contender status behind bisping/hendo

by muscleshark64 on Apr 16, 2009 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions

That would be great to see Silva on the 100 card! Good thought.

by RedDog on Apr 17, 2009 4:56 AM EDT up reply actions

I cannot wait it is almost here!!!Man I am so stoked for this card,I actually wanna see every fight!!!

by NM on Apr 16, 2009 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it is definatley a possibility. The only thing that might hold Dana back is the fact that 100 is sold out already. Although with PPV’s the chance to cash in would increase greatly with Silva on the card.

by Jrandolph on Apr 17, 2009 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Not realy!He’s not a crowd magnet,but Chuck is!

by Alpha Male 360 on Apr 17, 2009 5:43 AM EDT up reply actions

Shogun isnt making any eye contact with Chuck at all…..he knows whats coming!

by allamerican on Apr 17, 2009 7:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Not at all!Shogun,almost never stare!

by Alpha Male 360 on Apr 17, 2009 7:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Doesn’t mean anything, hell Fedor never looks at anyone and looks scared to death in his stare downs, but obviously we know the outcomes of his fights.

by Jason on Apr 17, 2009 8:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Check him out looking at Chuck’s fists!

by mike on Apr 16, 2009 8:43 PM EDT reply actions

And It looks like Dana is looking at Chuck thinking…“PLEASE CHUCKY! DONT LET ME DOWN” lol!

by EIGH8T on Apr 16, 2009 9:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Haha, yeah that looks pretty funny. I’m a Chuck fan but I don’t know where he goes from here if he loses this fight. As for Shogun, he’ll be cut if he loses.

by David W-S on Apr 16, 2009 10:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Nah, he is looking ahead dude … he has those flat brazilian eyes (that sounded gay) … I want to see Shogun do a jumping round house first strike :)

by DownUnder on Apr 17, 2009 1:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Shogun looks taller then you would expect.. this is gonna be a great event, hopefully!

by RoB on Apr 16, 2009 8:44 PM EDT reply actions

By the look on silva’s face I won’t want to be Leites.

by nathan on Apr 16, 2009 8:45 PM EDT reply actions

Silva is pissed off after the Cote performance. I would not want to Thalaes by any means. I think Silva is going to come at him like a crazy buzz saw like he did against Leben and Franklin especially Franklin 1. Leites only shot is catching a sub on the ground. I don’t see the fight going there, Silva will keep in standing and lights out Leites.

by halljam2 on Apr 16, 2009 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m with everyone else, lights out for Leites!!!

by Iagoof22 on Apr 16, 2009 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

i want leites to win, but you cant get by the fact that silva’s out for retribution from his poor performance against cote. also chucks knocking rua out!!

by Jared on Apr 16, 2009 10:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Silva is considerably bigger than Leites too. WOW

by Ethan on Apr 16, 2009 11:46 PM EDT up reply actions

chuck has to have one of the most piercing stares ever, i hope he wins by way of tko/ko! i know a few guys on here are saying that shogun will sub liddell if it goes to the ground, even if he gets the sub i just dont see liddell tapping, he didnt tap to horn or tap to rampage when he was been destroyed on the ground in pride, even with all the bs about liddell been a party animal, the man truly is a born fighter with a never say die attitude! anyone have a link to the official 97 website or is there any – also danas blog, thought it was back??

by jslim on Apr 16, 2009 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions

interview with the iceman about strippers and broken engagements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaYFwM7y8pY

by jslim on Apr 16, 2009 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions

UFC 100 ILL LIKE TO SEE THAT I WANNA SEE A SUB BY ANDERSON SILVA IF HE TKOS HIM HES STILL BAD BUT I WANNA SEE A SUB THAT WOULD BE NICE BUT I THINK KO

by droc714 on Apr 16, 2009 8:46 PM EDT reply actions

huh?

by Jrandolph on Apr 17, 2009 12:59 AM EDT up reply actions

I think there will be a crazy upset in favor of thales that nobody will have seen coming!

by Dustin on Apr 16, 2009 8:47 PM EDT reply actions

no brazilian love & brother hood, patriotism going on over there….

by fistoffury on Apr 16, 2009 8:47 PM EDT reply actions

I TOLD CHUCK WHEN I WAS IN ANAHEIM THAT HE WAS GOING TO KILL SHOGUN ILL STAY WITH THAT HES GOING TO KILL HIM I THINK HES FASTER THE SHOGUN IS AND THATS WHAT ITS GOING TO COME DOWN TO

by droc714 on Apr 16, 2009 8:51 PM EDT reply actions

DID YOU TELL HIM IN ALL CAPS??!?!!

by Dayzah on Apr 16, 2009 8:58 PM EDT up reply actions

NOPE I TALKED TO HIM IF I WAS TALKING TO HIM ONLINE THE I WOULD WHAT KIND OF ? IS THAT ??!?!!

by droc714 on Apr 16, 2009 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions

As soon as I see all caps in my peripheral vision I don’t even bother reading past the first word.

by Johnny Farnham on Apr 16, 2009 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions

poor leites.

by TRIKZ on Apr 16, 2009 8:53 PM EDT reply actions

trust me guys, shogun takes this one. i have feeling we’re gonna see the nasty muay thai that made shogun famous

by jayshogun on Apr 16, 2009 9:03 PM EDT reply actions

After watching the Countdown show, and seeing how nice of a guy Leites is, I really don’t want to see him get destroyed.

by natedogg77 on Apr 16, 2009 9:25 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, I agree. He may not be such a write-off as people expect. Of course, he’s a severe underdog but he can never be ruled out.

by Johnny Farnham on Apr 16, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Chuck looks focused.

by Bryce on Apr 16, 2009 9:26 PM EDT reply actions

Let’s hope Silva doesn’t gallivant about like he did with Cote and has learnt his lesson for showboating and wasting our time and making the fight much duller than it should have been. To give him credit, no one expected Cote’s knee to blowout, but either way, he wasted pretty much 90 per cent of the first two rounds. So let’s hope, once again, he comes out ready to destroy Leites.

by Johnny Farnham on Apr 16, 2009 9:47 PM EDT reply actions

He wasn’t showboating with Cote, he was scared to get KTFO. Do you actually think he just decided to stop his assult when he punched, kicked and kneed Cote in the head. No, he stopped because Cote cracked him up side of both ears. When others were falling, Cote was smiling and firing back. Man I hope they fight again, so everyone can see that it was Cote that got into Anderson’s head and the only difference if they fight again, will be Cote will have 2 good legs and the fight will go 5 rounds or Cote will KHTFO. No way Silva KO’s Cote, he ate his best punch ,kick, knee combo and smiled. Silva was scared, plain and simple.

by Gord on Apr 17, 2009 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions

Cote barely tasted what was coming for him because of all the showboating. Just because Silva’s a heavy favorite doesn’t mean he isn’t going to be cautious.

Granted, Cote could have shocked everyone in that he had a puncher’s chance, but anyone with KO power has that chance as anyone can get knocked out. It was just highly unlikely.

Either way, Silva was not afraid by any means, he was cautious and was showboating.

by Johnny Farnham on Apr 17, 2009 3:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Anyway, why would he suddenly be scared of Cote when he’s fought Henderson and Franklin among others? He didn’t give Cote everything he got — he didn’t get the chance — and when he opened up and gave a little without overcommitting he cracked Cote’s head with a good knee and some other well-placed strikes.

He was cautious and came in and out, not overcommitting as I said because Cote could have counterpunched and knocked him out.

Rarely does a fighter go down in as short an exchange as what happened between these two — it wasn’t a slugfest, that ain’t Silva’s style. Just because Silva didn’t obliterate him doesn’t mean anything. They barely got started. And the damage, with as little as what happened, was mostly inflicted on Cote.

It was barely a fight because of the silly showboating nonsense. But as I said, Silva was not expecting Cote’s knee to blowout, and he also said he wanted it to go five rounds.

by Johnny Farnham on Apr 17, 2009 3:27 AM EDT up reply actions

LOL look at danas face, it looks like hes thinking if you fuck this one up buddy adios.

by nathan on Apr 16, 2009 10:04 PM EDT reply actions

Chuck Shogun!!!….Never thought I’d see it. I can’t wait. I’m a big fan of both but I’m pulling for Shogun. Reason being I think Chuck is very near the end of his career just due to age. I can’t see him going on longer than another year or two but Mauricio is what 27 just. He needs to win this otherwise I’d be worried that he’ll go the way of Murilo and just fall off from the top level guys which would be sad given his undoubted skills. In that GP run he destroyed everyone. He wasn’t a big name at all then, unknown by many back then.

by RobH86 on Apr 16, 2009 10:12 PM EDT reply actions

He was juiced up on steriods and anyone who has done them knows you can NEVER be at that level without them. Especially if you tend to be lazy, like Shogun has shown in his last 2 fights. Beleive me, it comes a lot easier when you are juiced and until Shogun realizes he has to train 10 times as hard just to be 1/2 as good as he was in pride, he will never be a top guy.

by Gord on Apr 17, 2009 1:10 AM EDT up reply actions

I need help ive never bet on UFC fight before, but i think im gonna drop some Cash on Leties for the hell of it, the odds at plus 600 to minus 350, so for yall that bet if i drop say 50 or 100 on Leties how much would that bank ???

by See What Had Happend Was !!!! on Apr 16, 2009 10:18 PM EDT reply actions

Odds are based on $100 bets for + and $100 returns for -. Leties is at +600 which means if you bet $100, and he wins, you make $600. On the flip side if Silva at at -350, then you have to bet $350 to make $100. Just factor everything if you are betting less or more.

by ElHombre19 on Apr 16, 2009 10:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m not very sure but I think that means, if you bet $100 on Leites and he wins, you will win $600.

by anom on Apr 16, 2009 11:19 PM EDT up reply actions

silva is -600… that means for every 600 you bet, you win 100. If you bet 100 on Leites, you win 350. You have the odds backwards

by Ethan on Apr 16, 2009 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions

anderson looks just a lil bigger than leites. I guess he always looks a lil bigger than everybody!

by carpeltunnel on Apr 16, 2009 11:19 PM EDT reply actions

Shogun never makes eye contact. I’m betting Leites for the upset, all you bandwagoners get ready to jump off Silva and say how bad his ground game sucks because Lutter and Henderson took him down easily and Leites too (on Saturday) and submitted him… and get ready to speculate how Maia would have tapped him too.

by Mike&Ike on Apr 17, 2009 3:10 AM EDT reply actions

james irvine was bigger than anderson and we all know what happened there..I think leites is in a world of hurt….but his wife is having a baby..maybe he can pull off some crazy “new daddy” shit

by jesse on Apr 17, 2009 3:13 AM EDT reply actions

I have Thales pulling off a Matt Serra like upset.

by Paul on Apr 17, 2009 7:07 AM EDT reply actions

Check out the other pics on combatlifestyle,all the pics of Shogun he looks not happy at all.It reminded me when on one of Dana’s video blogs he told Shogun after the Coleman fight his next fight was against Chuck and Shogun did not look happy then either.I wonder if for some reason Chuck is in his head as a bad match up for him or something.I really hope I am wrong and we see the old GP Shogun but I just have a feeling he is gonna gas a bit maybe 2nd round and Chuck will take advantage.

I want a 3 round all action slugfest (same as Chuck v Wand) then a decision draw so both guys save face and stay in the ufc.

by robw on Apr 17, 2009 7:40 AM EDT reply actions

Silva looks like he’s ready to kill someone. This should be Silvas return to total domination.

by rydinlow on Apr 17, 2009 8:41 AM EDT reply actions

You know you’re a bad MF when your opponents gets all of these accolades for not getting KO’d despite the fact Cote really have nothing to build on going into another fight with Anderson.

by delldog on Apr 17, 2009 10:07 AM EDT reply actions