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CHUCK LIDDELL
Nickname The Iceman
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Nationality American
Born December 17, 1969 (1969-12-17) (age 38)
Fighting out of San Luis Obispo, California
Town of birth Santa Barbara, California
Team/Association The Pit
Fighting style Kempo, Kickboxing, Wrestling
Wins 22
By knockout 13
By submission
1
By decision 1
Losses 5
Draws 0
Charles David 'Chuck' Liddell was born December 17, 1969 in Santa Barbara, California., Chuck Liddell is also known as "The Iceman" and he is a mixed martial artist who fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Liddle is a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, and he has an extensive background in kickboxing and collegiate wrestling. He is associated with the Pit team and he recently earned his purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Liddell is, however, generally regarded as a stand-up fighter, relying primarily on his background in Kempo Karate and Koei-Kan karate. Due to his relaxed hands down stance, and the angles at which he throws punches, he is also regarded as an unorthodox striker.
Chuck holds notable wins over Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante, Jeremy Horn, Guy Mezger, Jeff Monson, Tito Ortiz, Alistair Overeem, Kevin Randleman, Renato Sobral and Wanderlei Silva and.
Chuck Liddell is noted within the MMA community for his extrordinary knockout ability and his exceptional takedown defense.
Career
At the age of 12, Liddell began studying Koei-Kan karate and the tattoo seen on his scalp reads "Koei-Kan". At his high school, San Marcos High, he was a four year starter on the school football team. He was a Division I wrestler at California Polytechnic State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business/Accounting in 1995. At the beginning of his MMA career, Liddell began to train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under John Lewis in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Chuck Liddell made his UFC debut in 1998 and won with a decision victory over Noe Hernandez. He lost by submission to Jeremy Horn shortly after, but Liddell began establishing his reputation as a devastating knockout puncher and formidable opponent with his victories over Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, and Renato Sobral during the next few years.
By 2002, Liddell was considered the number one contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight title and he had earned his growing popularity and support from fans. The UFC tried to arrange a title bout between then-champion Tito Ortiz and Liddell, but Ortiz kept citing scheduling conflicts forcing the UFC brass to create an interim Light Heavyweight championship. For this title they match Liddell with experienced former Heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 43. Randy Couture neutralized Liddell's hooks with straight punches. Couture eventually started taking Liddell down at will and Couture eventually gained full mount, forcing a referee stoppage due to strikes.
After his defeat to Couture, Liddell went to Japan to compete in the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament asa representative of the UFC. Liddell defeated Alistair Overeem in the first round of the tournament, but Liddell was eliminated from the Grand Prix by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the semi-finals, losing by technical knockout after Liddell's corner signaled for an end to the bout in the final round.
First Matchup With Ortiz
Returning to the UFC, Chuck prepared himself for a match against his controversial rival Tito Ortiz, once again putting himself in contention for the Light Heavyweight title. Liddell and Ortiz had once trained together at the Pitfight Club and experienced a falling out that escalated as Ortiz continually taunted Liddell. The falling out stemmed from Ortiz's unwillingness to give Liddell a title fight, despite Liddell's status as a top contender in the UFC. Eventually Ortiz lost the title to Randy Couture, and finally on April 2, 2004, Liddell and Ortiz clashed in a highly anticipated fight at UFC 47 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Most of the first round was spent feeling each other out. Liddell threw a few punches and a kick, which was blocked by Ortiz, and Ortiz slapped himself on the head, stating that he wanted more. When the round ended Ortiz pushed referee "Big" John McCarthy out of his way into Liddell and yelled and he and Liddell exchanged some words. Shortly after the second round began, Liddell threw a flurry of punches, knocking Ortiz down and this led to a TKO victory for Liddell. Tito's excuse, Chuck's thumb made contact with one of Tito's eyes, causing Tito to momentarily see "nothing but black" before Liddell shortly got the TKO. Since UFC 47, the bad blood between the two fighters remained. Ortiz repeatedly stated that he wanted "his" belt back. Despite Ortiz' bad feelings, he and Liddell would not have the opportunity to fight again for two and a half years.
The Ultimate Fighter
Liddell was seen on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter in early 2005. The Ultimate Fighter is Spike TV's reality show featuring fighters new to the UFC.The show allows fighters to compete for a UFC contract. Liddell was coach of Team Liddell, while fellow fighter and then UFC Light Heavyweight champion Randy Couture coached Team Couture. The series was a success for both Spike TV and the UFC. Both of the winners of The Ultimate Fighter, Diego Sanchez and Forrest Griffin, were members of Team Liddell, and both men have gone on to wide-spread notoriety a fighters.
Rematches with Couture and Horn
Liddell had a rematch with Randy Couture on April 16, 2005 at UFC 52. This championship bout ended in victory for Liddell when he knocked Couture out in the first round. Before the rematch, Liddell was scheduled to defend his new title against fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Horn, at UFC 54 The UFC claimed that this matchup was demanded by long-time fans of the sport since Horn gave Liddell his first loss. Liddell dominated Horn with aggressive punches, causing knockdowns in several rounds. Horn's offense was centered on grappling and submission wrestling so Liddell's defensive wrestling ability, especially his sprawl, stifled Horn. Liddelll won the fight via TKO in 2:46 minutes of the fourth round after Horn told the referee that he could not see. Liddell avenged his first career loss, defending his championship.
Rubber match with Couture / Rematch with Sobral
At UFC 57, February 4, 2006, Liddell faced Randy Couture in a rubber match, defeating Couture via knockout in Las Vegas, Nevada retaining his Light Heavyweight championship belt. After the fight, Couture announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. In Liddell's next defense, at UFC 62 on August 26, 2006, Liddell defended his belt against Renato "Babalu" Sobral, who he had defeated nearly three years earlier. Liddell scored a quick TKO victory over Sobral at 1:35 of the first round.
During UFC 61, it was announced that if Liddell defeat Sobral, Liddell would face off against PRIDE's Middleweight (205 lb) champion Wanderlei Silva. The fight failed to materialize becasue of competing promotions' inability to reach an agreement. UFC President Dana White attributed this to Silva's subsequent knockout losses to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović and Dan Henderson, who claimed Silva's title.
Rematch with Ortiz
Finally, at UFC 66, Liddell and Tito Ortiz were scheduled for the most anticipated match of the year which took place on December 30, 2006. Liddell's takedown defense neutralized Ortiz' wrestling ability, which forced Ortiz to stand up with Liddell. Although Ortiz did take Liddell down at one point in the fight, Liddell defeat Ortiz via TKO in the third round, successfully defending his Light Heavyweight championship. It was later revealed that Liddell tore his MCL prior to the fight and during the fight he popped the tendon out on his middle finger on his left hand.
Rematch with Jackson
Liddell lost his UFC Light Heavyweight title at UFC 71 on May 26, 2007. In a rematch against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Liddell was dropped by a right hand and a few more strikes from Rampage resulting in a TKO. The fight was stopped by refrees when Liddell was knocked out for a split second. He regained consciousness immediately after, but continued to receive blows to the head from Jackson and he failed to defend himself. The match was originally ruled as a KO, but the ruling was changed and the UFC web site states it as a TKO since Chuck was conscious at the time of the stoppage. After the loss Liddell was widely criticized when reports indicated he was seen in night clubs the week before the event. He responded that he had not changed his behavior from any of his other fights in Las Vegas. At the post-UFC 71 press conference, Liddell said that he would continue to fight. Dana White stated that Liddel's next opponent would likely beWanderlei Silva, "The Axe Murderer".
On July 11, 2007 in an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Dana Whiteconfirmed that the bout between Silva and Liddell had been canceled indefinitely. Silva and Liddell were supposed to be the main event for UFC 76 in Anaheim, California. Not long after, Silva released a videotaped statement saying he did not back out of the fight as was first reported by White and the UFC, but simply didn't want to fight in September as planned.
2nd Loss In A Row
Liddell faced Keith Jardine in the main event of UFC 76 and lost by a split decision. It was the first time in his career that Liddell lost two straight fights. This performance, which seemed to lack enthusiasm, made fight fans and critics question his future. Following the fight, UFC president Dana White, who is close friends with Liddell, said that "The Chuck Liddell that I saw fight didn't look like the Chuck Liddell that loves to fight."
Big Win
On December 29, 2007, by unanimous decision, Chuck Liddell beat Wanderlei Silva in UFC 79 Nemesis .
Source: Wikipedia
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