Mixed martial arts: Silva wins decision, Liddell falls in UFC 97 | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Mixed martial arts: Silva wins decision, Liddell falls in UFC 97 | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Updated at 8:37 p.m., Saturday, April 18, 2009

Mixed martial arts: Silva wins decision, Liddell falls in UFC 97

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Thales Leites, bottom, from Brazil, and Anderson Silva, from Brazil, battle during their World Middleweight Championship fight at UFC 97 in Montreal.

AP PHOTO | The Canadian Press,Ryan Remiorz

Chuck Liddell, left, from Santa Barbara, Calif, takes a right to the face from Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, of Brazil, during their light heavyweight fight at UFC 97 in Montreal.

AP PHOTO | The Canadian Press,Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL — Middleweight champion Anderson Silva outpointed Thales Leites, and Mauricio Rua stopped former light-heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell in the first round at UFC 97 tonight.

Rua (18-3) crumpled the 39-year-old Liddell (21-7) with a lunging left and finished him off with a string of hammer-fists at 4:28 before a sellout crowd at the Bell Centre.

The 34-year-old Silva (24-4) won a record ninth straight fight in the UFC, erasing the mark shared by Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch, and tied a record with his fifth successful title defense. The judges scored it 49-46, 48-47, 50-46 for Silva.

Leites dropped to 14-2.

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