UFC 97 Breakdown: The Main Card

Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua

The Breakdown: At just 27 years of age, one might view Rua as the young buck locking horns with the aging veteran. Instead, both men look to be on the back end of their careers. Age has taken its toll on Liddell, and injuries have transmuted the once dynamic Rua into a shell of his former self. With whispers of a ride on the bullet train to Pink Slip City being the consolation prize for the loser, these two need to get in touch with their former selves or risk becoming relics of the past.

“The Iceman” has lost a step, but most of his problems come from his rigid adherence to the style that once garnered him UFC gold. Liddell set out to address those issues by diversifying his training and getting in touch with his inner wrestler. Contrast that with Rua, who walks around on a pair of bum knees and looked like someone dumped a gallon of cigarette tar into his lungs in his fight with Mark Coleman at UFC 93. The style clash favors Liddell anyway, as he can easily stuff Rua’s takedowns and force him into a brawl.

The X Factor: The MMA community has heard for what seems like an eternity that Rua’s back to his old self. If anything, he has regressed, and the schedule he maintains seems to be at odds with a proper rehabilitation. A prime Rua could beat most anyone, and while the MMA community can hope he has a Lazarus-like resurrection in him, do not buy into the talk that this is the fight in which he rises from the dead.

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Bottom Line: You have to be pretty skeptical about Rua’s chances. It wasn’t that long ago that a tremendous lightweight prospect named Javier Vazquez had to walk away from the game thanks to genetics granting him million-dollar talent and dollar-store knees. The song remains the same. Only this time, Rua will be the one playing it.