When: April 18, 2009
Time: 7PM PDT/10PM EDT

Middleweight champion and the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Anderson "The Spider" Silva, will put his nine-match winning streak on the line against the Brazilian tactician Thales Leites (14-1). With the hard-hitting Silva literally toying with the competition in his past two bouts, one could quickly dismiss Leites as just another tally on "The Spider"'s lengthy list of victims. But, if Leites has anything going for him, it's his opponents' assumptions that he's too newb for the UFC spotlight, let alone taking the title away from the world's best. He was able to take down the far more experienced Osami Shibuya and Jose Landi-Jons in previous fights, so Silva shouldn't necessarily look past his upcoming opponent.

Also on the docket is fan favorite "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell's return to the Octagon. He'll be looking to shake off losing three of his last four fights—two by stone cold knockouts—against the six-year veteran Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who is coming off a semi-disappointing, unimpressive victory over UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman. Expect an interesting clash of styles, with Liddell using his strikes and ground-and-pound to wear down his opponent and Rua focusing on keeping his opponent at bay with his jiu-jitsu background.

Lastly, don't miss ex-Marine Brian Stann's debut in the UFC. We talked to him a few months back—read the interview here—just days before he lost his WEC light heavyweight title to Steve Cantwell (who is also making his UFC debut), so look for him to make a splash in his new stomping grounds.

So, invite some buddies over, make it a "Wings Night" at your local Hooters, or pretend you're Dana White's long lost cousin and try to sneak into Montreal's Bell Centre. Whatever you wind up doing this Saturday night, it better have the UFC's pay-per-view card as a backdrop.


MAIN CARD
Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites
Light Heavyweight bout: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua
Light Heavyweight bout: Brian Stann vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
Light Heavyweight bout: Luiz Cane vs. Steve Cantwell

PRELIMINARY CARD
Light Heavyweight bout: Vinicius Magalhães vs. Eliot Marshall
Middleweight bout: Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
Middleweight bout: Nate Quarry vs. Jason MacDonald
Middleweight bout: David Loiseau vs. Ed Herman
Lightweight bout: Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden
Welterweight bout: Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant
Lightweight bout: Matt Wiman vs. Sam Stout

---

More MMA:
Interview: Dana White Wants Your Money
Tito Ortiz on Fighting Dana White
Video: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Video: Rich Franklin's Training Techniques
Video: Gina Carano Is Pretty, Tough