The Weekly Wrap: April 11 – April 17

UFC 97 Run-Up

Zuffa LLC set the stage for UFC 97, which will be the promotion’s sophomore voyage into Montreal; the April 18 show is sold out. The hype started with a “Countdown” special that premiered April 13 on Spike TV, which focused on introducing Anderson Silva’s challenger, Thales Leites, as well as where Chuck Liddell stands going into his fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

The special spent considerable time delving into Leites’ home life -- he’s expecting a child this summer -- and tried to draw parallels between his 2006 submission victory over pioneering Brazilian striker Jose Landi-Jons and the approach he would take to Silva. Sherdog.com’s “Pros Picks” poll had only one of 22 people polled vote for Leites. The UFC is pushing heavily the fact that Silva could break Jon Fitch and Royce Gracie’s record of eight straight wins inside the Octagon and tie Matt Hughes’ record of five straight title defenses.

The profile of Liddell, which called him the “first big superstar” and highest-earning fighter in the sport’s history, harped on his past as much as his future and pondered whether his knockout loss to Rashad Evans signals anything about his status in the sport. The tone of the special seemed to lay the foundation for either Liddell or “Shogun” stepping down in the event of a loss. UFC President Dana White re-iterated on an appearance on TSN’s “Off the Record” that Liddell will retire if he loses, though he qualified the statement with the idea that “The Iceman” would still always work for the UFC in some capacity. Liddell, 39, was shown on the “Countdown” special expanding his training horizons with American Top Team wrestling and striking trainers and stating a desire to reclaim the light heavyweight title.

It appears interest is high among the public for Liddell’s make-or-break fight. The “Countdown” premiere on April 13 drew one of the highest ratings to date for the series -- an average of 774,000 viewers, according to MMAPayout.com. The number was higher than the 733,000 viewers for the “Countdown” special for UFC 92 in December, which is thought to have done around one million buys on pay-per-view.

In another UFC 97 note, the Wrestling Observer reported that the popular ESPN documentary series “E:60,” which notched one of its highest ratings for its profile of Brock Lesnar, will begin filming this weekend at the show. The piece will focus on White and the recent controversy surrounding comments he made in his video blog. The show will air May 12.

All 24 fighters scheduled to compete at UFC 97 made weight at the official weigh-in, with the exception of lightweight David Bielkheden. The Swede checked in at 157 pounds on his lone attempt, one pound over the 156-pound limit. Bielkheden was given one hour to drop the additional weight.