The Weekly Wrap: Dec. 20 – Dec. 26

UFC 96, 97 venues set

The UFC has fleshed out the first quarter of 2009, with UFC 96 set for March 7 in Columbus, Ohio, and UFC 97 set for April 18 in Montreal. The company ran the same two markets during the same calendar months in 2008. Both venues sold out, and the Montreal show, headlined by the Georges St. Pierre-Matt Serra rematch, set the record for largest attendance in UFC history, with about 22,000 spectators packing the Bell Centre.

The promotion has yet to announce any matches for the shows, but the MMA blogosphere was full of reports on what bouts are expected. Several reports, including one from MMAWeekly, indicated that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will make his next title defense against Thales Leites on April 18. UFC 96 may very well clear up who will face the winner of the upcoming Brock Lesnar v. Frank Mir/Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira winner match for the heavyweight title, as several sources reported Gabriel Gonzaga will take on undefeated Shane Carwin on the show. That card may also feature a rematch between Chuck Liddell and Keith Jardine, according comments made by Liddell during a radio interview on the nationally syndicated Tom Leykis Show.

While no main event has been announced for UFC 95 on Feb. 21 in London, Sherdog.com reported that the show will feature the debut of new UFC signee and Dutch heavyweight prospect Stefan Struve against Junior dos Santos, the powerful Brazilian who knocked out Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90 in October.