April 18th @ 7pm (PT)

These are the televised fights.

Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites – The main event, this should be an interesting match-up. Silva has wiped out almost everybody in his division, so they give him Leites. Leites is a talented fighter but not up to par with Anderson Silva. UFC should have given him more fights under his belt before feeding him to one of the most dominant fighter in UFC history. Leites will put up a  good fight but will get KOd by Silva.

Silva running through Franklin.

Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua – Both fighters were once considered the best in their division, however, their last fights says otherwise. Liddell was KOd by the powerful wrester, Rashad Evans. Shogun won his fight against the aging Coleman, but not in a dominant fashion. Shogun gassed within the 2nd round, and his stand-up looked sloppy. Now, both are pitted against each other to see which one moves up, and which one moves down, in the ranks. Liddell was never known to gas, but age is catching up to him. He isn’t as explosive as he used to be and his stand-up is getting predictable. I’m assuming that Shogun is being smart and is working on his cardio. With good cardio, Shogun should win this by TKO.

Shogun playing soccer.

Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann – Don’t know much about Stann, but Krysztof is a powerful wrestler from the Ultimate Fighter TV show. The UFC is feeding Stann to Soszynski for practice. Soszynski is a good wrestler, and trains with Dan Henderson at Team Quest. Soszynski should win  via ground and pound.

Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk – This should be an interesting fight, both fighters comes from a kickboxing background. Kongo is hyped up to be the next big thing in the HW, but I’m not convinced. The UFC has been feeding him n0-namers to pad up his record. Hardonk is also on the same boat as Kongo. No notable wins, but looks very impressive with his leg kicks. I’m hoping for a scrap here, unlike the Kongo/Crocop fight where both fighters just stood around all day. I think that Hardonk is a superior striker, and if he’s able to keep this fight on his feet, he should be able to KO Kongo. But, I think that Kongo will go for the takedown and win via JD.

Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Cane – I don’t know much about both fighters, so it’s hard to predict. But, based on their records, Cane has more experience, so I’ll say Cane takes this by KO.

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