With just over one month until Anderson "The Spider" Silva storms Montreal, light heavyweights Eliot Marshall (6-1) and Mike Ciesnolevicz (17-3) — who are each 1-0 since their debuts inside the Octagon — are set to collide on the undercard of UFC 97: "Redemption" at The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on April 18 according to MMAWeekly.
Marshall cut his teeth in the 'Ring of Fire' promotion before making his debut on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). He would eventually fall to division winner Ryan Bader in the semifinals, but bounced back at the TUF 8 Finale with a submission victory over castmate Jules Bruchez.
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, "The Fire" frequently trains with Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico and is very dangerous on the ground.
Ciesnolevicz is a Miletich product who made his Octagon debut at UFC 95 "Sanchez vs. Stevenson" where he submitted Neil Grove via heel hook. After competing on the local circuit following the demise of the IFL and his Quad Cities Silverbacks, Ciesnolevicz faced Grove as a heavyweight but will return to the 205-pound class against Marshall.
Ciesnolevicz is a very well rounded competitor with a balanced five stoppages and seven submissions. Five of those seven subs have come by way of guillotine choke so hopefully Marshall will shoot with caution.
UFC 97 main event 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.
To check out the latest UFC 97 fight card news and rumors click here.
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