Brazilian slugger Luis "Banha" Cane is a man of few words. He prefers to let his hands do the talking. And in his main-card opening bout with Steve Cantwell at UFC 97 in Montreal, Cane plans to let his hands ask for a title shot.

"This fight is an important step," Cane said. "I really want to be among the top of the division, and this fight should pave the way to putting me there."

With eight of his nine wins coming by KO or TKO, Cane has quickly earned a reputation as a fearsome striker. His right hand slap to the face of former UFC fighter Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at UFC 89 – shortly before rocking him with a straight left – preceded his second consecutive TKO win in the UFC.

Cane believes he'll look even better on Saturday night.

"That is a normal move I use," he said. "The last fight I fought with an injury, but now I am 100 percent. I trained very hard for this fight, and fans should see a better Luis Cane."

Cantwell has quickly developed a reputation of his own, closing out his run in the WEC as the organization's final light heavyweight champion. While Cantwell has three career TKO wins of his own, Cane enters the bout unconcerned.

"He is a talented and tough guy, but I am not worried about being hit hard," Cane said. "I will impose my game."

"I am accustomed to being faced with hard hitters, so I won't be intimidated. But who knows? It's MMA, so maybe I'll get the chance to show my ground game."

Cane does own one submission victory in his career. Of course, his opponent tapped out due to a series of brutal soccer kicks from "Banha".

Meanwhile, Cantwell earned a bit of infamy with his wild celebration after injuring Razak Al-Hassan's arm in a gruesome technical submission win. Cane said he's comfortable testing Cantwell's skills on the mat.

"(Cantwell) is a young guy, and he got caught up in the moment," Cane said. "But I think I have developed completely as I fight. Whoever was in doubt before now knows who I am and what I can do."

With his lone career loss coming via disqualification to James Irvin in his UFC debut, a win over Cantwell would be Cane's third-straight in the organization. While the Brazilian stopped short of a firm prediction, Cane believes the bout could be a highlight of the evening.

"I am prepared give my best and that this will be a good fight for the fans," he said. "It won't go to the end."

During Thursday's pre-UFC 97 press conference in Montreal, UFC President Dana White announced plans for the promotion to visit Boston, New York and Toronto by 2010. All three cities do not currently regulate mixed martial arts but a push is on the legalize the sport so the UFC could hold events in each city by next year.

UFC lightweight Kenny Florian and UFC Vice President of Regulation and Governmental Affairs Marc Ratner, among others, were in Massachusetts Thursday to encourage the state to pass legislation that would pave the way for the UFC to hold an event in Boston before year end.

"The panel made a great case for what I think is pretty straightforward," Senator James Timilty, the chairman of the public safety and homeland security committee, was quoted as saying by the Boston Herald. "The sport is exploding in popularity, but it is existing right now unregulated (in Massachusetts). Boxing has been regulated for decades. It's about time that we've made the adjustment."

Provided the sport soon becomes regulated, a UFC event is tentatively scheduled for November 21 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.

A fight remains to have regulations approved in Ontario and New York, but White was confident at the press conference that the UFC will soon be welcomed in both Toronto and New York, announcing plans to hold events in both cities by early next year.

White also indicated during the press conference that the UFC will soon hold its first ever event in France.

UFC President Dana White said that Chuck Liddell (picture) could be stepping foot inside the Octagon for the last time at UFC 97.

"Yeah, if he loses, he will retire," White stated Thursday on TSN's "Off The Record" in Canada.

That's only White's position though, as Liddell has already said he plans to keep fighting.

White believes the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has already cemented his legacy and has nothing left to prove.

"He's one of my best friends, I love him as a person," said White. "He's accomplished everything there is to accomplish. What else is there for him? The most famous mixed martial artist in the world. Made more money than God, has a ton of money, and was a world champion."

White says Liddell will always be with the UFC but refuses having to witness "The Iceman" revisiting anything resembling the knockout loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 88 last September.

"The bottom line is (that) I don't want to see him get hurt," White said.

Spike TV will join in the celebrations surrounding July's historic UFC 100 event.

The UFC's cable broadcast partner will debut a five-part series entitled "UFC's Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights" prior to UFC 100, which takes place July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fans can begin voting on the top 100 UFC fights of all time on May 1 at Ultimate100.spike.com, and highlights from the chosen bouts will air on the series, which debuts July 5.

That first episode airs at 9 PM ET/PT on Sunday. Subsequent episodes air in the same timeslot on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Prior to Saturday's series finale, Spike TV will re-air the other four episodes.

The UFC this week announced three official bouts for UFC 100, which is becoming the can't-miss event of 2009. UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar takes on UFC interim heavyweight title holder Frank Mir (in a heavyweight title unification bout) and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre meets top contender Thiago Alves. Additionally, "The Ultimate Fighter 9" coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson are also slated to fight at the event, and as revealed on this past Wednesday's episode "The Ultimate Fighter 9", Stephan Bonnar will take on Mark Coleman.

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson's journey from YouTube sensation to CBS main event fighter was well publicized, and even though his career as a professional MMA fighter has been short and problematic, you had to expect others to follow in his footsteps.

Dhafir Harris, a childhood acquaintance of Ferguson and a reported member of his entourage at one time, began promoting backyard fights in the Miami suburb of Perrine where both he and Ferguson grew up. The fights were haled as no-rules, bare-knuckle affairs and were not sanctioned for obvious reasons. With no protective equipment or medical staff on hand, the fighters at these types of events knowingly place themselves in danger. Most say it's for pride, while others just need the money.

Harris' promotion may have already come to an end, but even if that's the case, it would be pretty naive to think that others like it haven't already sprouted under similar circumstances. Rakontur, a film company that specializes in producing edgy, compelling documentaries, spent some time filming Harris' fights last year and confirmed via email that they plan to create a full-length feature documentary on the subject.

Fans and members of the MMA community fear that exposure for backyard fighting will undo much of the work that MMA has done to repair the image created by its early years. Some worry that by depicting a bloody, unregulated style of fighting complete with bloodthirsty spectators, the anti-MMA crowd will gain additional ammo.

Read what MMA fans are saying at themmaspace.com

In reality, it's not very hard to explain the differences between the fighting that is depicted in Dawg Fight and the legitimate sport of MMA in its modern, sanctioned form. Anyone who tries to make a direct comparison is probably so bitterly opposed to the sport of MMA that nothing could change their mind anyway. Instead, I think Dawg Fight is going to address some incredibly interesting social dynamics. No, it's not the future of MMA, but Kimbo Slice may not be the last fighter to rise from similar beginnings and make a name for himself.

Here's a link to the trailer for Dawg Fight. Take a look and leave your comments here.

Picture: Dhafir Harris aka DADA5000

Source: examiner.com