Liddell vs Rua Set For UFC 97

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports (link below) is reporting that the main event of UFC 97, set to take place in Montreal, Quebec, will feature Chuck Liddell against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Rua "earned" this main event spot by defeating Mark Coleman earlier tonight at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland. Rua looked extremely shaky against Coleman in this fight, taking almost the full three rounds to dispatch a gassed and clearly overmatched Coleman.

Rua, once considered to be one of the most gifted natural talents in the world, will have a lot to prove in his match-up against Liddell. He was coming off of a 1 1/2 year-long layoff prior to his match-up against Coleman, so you might be able to blame his lack of conditioning and finish on ring rust.

However, Rua will have plenty of time to train for his match against Liddell, and another subpar performance just might have the much-hyped Rua looking for another job.

UFC 97 will take place on April 18th, 2009. The event will feature two of the UFC's top draws in Anderson "The Spider" Silva and Chuck Liddell. Silva will be facing off against Thales Leites for the Middleweight championship, while Liddell will be squaring off against Mauricio Rua. Sean Sherk vs Roger Huerta has also been rumored for this event.

There is going to be a lot on the line for both Liddell and Rua in April. A decisive Liddell victory will rejuvenate his career and likely thrust him into the title picture at 205.

A Rua victory will likely save him his job. If Rua is knocked out by Liddell, then I would expect that his days in the UFC will be numbered.

This should be a great event in April.

Source: Yahoo Sports! - Rua Rewarded Despite Atrocious Performance