UFC Unleashed “Liddell vs. Silva: A Special Presentation” 5/31 Re-Cap

UFC Unleashed “Liddell vs. Silva: A Special Presentation” 5/31 Re-Cap

This show is basically all about the hype, build-up and anticipation of this fight. And then of course they show the fight…

Chuck Liddell (20-5) vs. Wanderlei Silva (31-7-1)- UFC 79- 12/29/07

R1- Very cautious first minute and a half as Chuck seems to be waiting for Silva to come at him and Silva is cautious as well. They start to throw heavily after about two minutes. Not a whole lot of action until Liddell starts to hit some shots at about the 3:30 minute time of the round. Liddell is somewhat the aggressor in round one and seemed to land more shots. Liddell 10 Wanderlei 9.

They have Dana White, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva talk about the first round after it happens and give their perspective of who won, etc. Then they show some of the corner action with Liddell. Pretty interesting perspective.

R2- They come out and swing like crazy in the first 10 seconds with Silva hitting a couple of shots. Silva seems to be wanting to be more aggressive in this round as he’s throwing some haymakers early. Silva is kind of stalking Chuck in this round and is getting in some shots. Chuck gets knocked down by kind of a push by Silva but he pops back up. Silva’s ear is bleeding but he pops Chuck with a right hand and Chuck falls down and gets right back up again. They clinch for the first time in the fight and Chuck hits a couple of shots and Wanderlei is bleeding from the left eye. Chuck now controlling the fight as Wanderlei is trying to wildly defend himself and he gets out of trouble. Wanderlei comes back and hits some shots. They are really mixing it up and swinging wildly. Great last minute of action in this round. Just fantastic. I actually re-wound the TIVO to check out the last 1:30 of this round again. Both guys just mixing it up and laying it all on the line. It’s amazing how both of these guys take shots and then dish it right back out. I’m gonna give this round to Wanderlei but not by much. Liddell 19 Silva 19.

They show Dana talking about the last round and the fight and also get some quotes from Wanderlei as well as going briefly inside the corners of Wanderlei and Liddell and then letting Chuck talk about the round briefly.

R3- Liddell goes for an immediate take down and gets it but they get back to their feet quickly. Chuck misses with a spinning back fist but then hits a right hand and Wanderlei is pushed back to the cage and then they just start throwing at each other. Chuck is connecting big time but ends up backing off. Chuck has Wanderlei on the cage again and is just picking him apart. Wanderlei backs him off. Wanderlei trying to come back and lands and couple of punches. Liddell takes him down with 15 seconds left and rides him to victory. This was a real good fight with a couple of parts that were just fantastic. 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 the winner is Chuck Liddell. I had it 29-28.

Winner: Chuck Liddell by Decision (Unanimous)

They also show some post-match interviews/reflection from the fighters. I really liked the presentation of this fight. They took one fight and built it up and then showed the fight with the fighters and Dana talking about each round and Joe Rogan chiming in once in a while. I would really like to see some other fights given this treatment. Really, enjoyable match and show.