This Week in Combat Sports March 13th, 2009
May 15th, 2009 by adminFor more This Week in Combat Sports, go to blog.twicbs.com. Show notes for March 13th, 2009 TapouT Founder Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Dead at 45 Ken Shamrock Suspended for Steroids Penn Files Formal Complaint Evans vs Machida at UFC 98 Ohio Valley Wrestling Founder Starts New MMA Fight League Tito Ortiz Says He is Fighting in August Tim Sylvia to Make Pro Boxing Debut Matt Hughes Considering a Move to Middleweight Don King to Promote MMA? UFC 96 Ref Admits Mistake Mike Tyson Looking for Work Links to …
By: TWinCombatSports
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By: TWinCombatSports
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Chuck Liddell - The Iceman Of Mma, Part 1
May 13th, 2009 by admin
One of the most well known names in the world of mixed martial arts is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, more simply referred to as the UFC. The UFC has been a place for many fighters to show their skills and gain fame as professional fighters. One of the more prominent names in the sport of UFC is Chuck Liddell.
Liddell started his martial arts training at age 12. Liddell fights out of San Luis Obispo, California. He is a California born and raised fighter. He went to college at California Polytechnic State University where he wrestled and graduated with a major in accounting. Despite his accounting degree, Liddell worked as a bouncer and bartender before he started his full-time fighting career.
Chuck made his first appearance in the UFC in 1998 fighting in UFC 17. He made his way up the ranks and by 2002, Liddell was the number one contender for the light heavyweight title, which was held by the controversial Tito Ortiz. Liddell and Ortiz had trained together at the Pitfight Club and had a falling out. Ortiz was unwilling to give Liddell a shot at the title, so Liddell was instead scheduled to fight Randy Couture, a veteran of the UFC and former heavyweight champion.
Liddell lost to Couture and Couture later beat Ortiz and became the light heavyweight champion. It was only after Ortiz lost the title that Liddell finally got to fight his bitter rival. In UFC 47, Liddell knocked Ortiz out with a series of brutal punches to claim victory for himself.
In UFC 52, Liddell once faced off against the veteran fighter and light heavyweight champion, Randy Couture. This time, Liddell knocked out Couture and claimed the light heavyweight title. Couture announced his retirement following his loss of the title. Liddell successfully defended the light heavyweight title four more times before he lost the belt to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in UFC 71. Liddell had held the light heavyweight champion belt for just over two years.
By: Adrian Adams
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Liddell started his martial arts training at age 12. Liddell fights out of San Luis Obispo, California. He is a California born and raised fighter. He went to college at California Polytechnic State University where he wrestled and graduated with a major in accounting. Despite his accounting degree, Liddell worked as a bouncer and bartender before he started his full-time fighting career.
Chuck made his first appearance in the UFC in 1998 fighting in UFC 17. He made his way up the ranks and by 2002, Liddell was the number one contender for the light heavyweight title, which was held by the controversial Tito Ortiz. Liddell and Ortiz had trained together at the Pitfight Club and had a falling out. Ortiz was unwilling to give Liddell a shot at the title, so Liddell was instead scheduled to fight Randy Couture, a veteran of the UFC and former heavyweight champion.
Liddell lost to Couture and Couture later beat Ortiz and became the light heavyweight champion. It was only after Ortiz lost the title that Liddell finally got to fight his bitter rival. In UFC 47, Liddell knocked Ortiz out with a series of brutal punches to claim victory for himself.
In UFC 52, Liddell once faced off against the veteran fighter and light heavyweight champion, Randy Couture. This time, Liddell knocked out Couture and claimed the light heavyweight title. Couture announced his retirement following his loss of the title. Liddell successfully defended the light heavyweight title four more times before he lost the belt to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in UFC 71. Liddell had held the light heavyweight champion belt for just over two years.
By: Adrian Adams
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Chuck Liddell: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
May 11th, 2009 by admin
On April 18th, 2009, in Montreal Canada, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell returns to face Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for what will be his 26th professional fight. As far as I’m concerned, we all owe Chuck a great deal for everything he has given us. He has given MMA fans some of the greatest moments in the history of the sport. I mean, how exhilarating was it to watch him bludgeon Tito Ortiz after all his gum-flapping? How great was it to watch him avenge his loss to Randy Couture in such devastating fashion? Chuck is, undoubtedly, one of the greatest fighters of all time; sure, he’s getting a little long in the tooth, but who really cares? I know I don’t. Personally, I’m glad he has decided not to retire. He is the gift that keeps on giving. Thirty years from now, I would still watch an elderly Chuck Liddell fight some bowlegged geezer in a nursing home.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has had an enormously successful career in PRIDE; he has beaten some of the sport’s top fighters including Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Kevin Randleman, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, and Alistair Overeem. However, the success he had in PRIDE did not travel with him to the United States. It must have gotten lost with his luggage; goddamn baggage handlers! Rua was expected to come into the UFC and wreak havoc on the light heavyweight division; to date, this prophecy has not come to pass.
In his first UFC fight, Shogun faced Forrest Griffin, who many analysts thought would be an easy fight for him. However, Forrest silenced the critics by dominating Rua for three rounds before submitting him. There is no real intelligent way to put it, so I am just going to say that Forrest kicked the living shit out of him. Of course, the critics hate to eat their words so, after the fight, there was all this talk about Shogun’s injuries. Be that as it may, there are no excuses in MMA. When a fighter decides to take a fight, he is basically communicating that he is healthy enough to do it. If you are too injured to fight, DON’T FRIGGIN’ FIGHT!!
In his second UFC fight, Shogun faced a superannuated Mark “The Hammer” Coleman. Perhaps the powers that be in the UFC thought a 44 year-old has-been was just the thing to jumpstart the domination we were all waiting for. Once again, it was not to be. Although Shogun did end up getting his first UFC victory, it was a subpar performance. It was glaringly obvious that Rua was out of shape; he started sucking wind as early as the middle of the first round. It looked like two fighters in their forties going at it, rather than one forty-something and an up-and-coming 28 year-old. In my opinion, Coleman was 24 seconds away from a decision victory before he was caught with a punch and ultimately TKO’d. Rua won, what I would call, another shit-show.
If Rua comes into this fight looking like he did in his last two, Chuck Liddell should have an easy night. Even if he does manage to pull it together and shows up in shape for the fight, stylistically, it is not a good match-up for Shogun. Why? Because he’s a fighter that throws caution to the wind and comes straight at his opponents. We all know that Liddell is at his best when he is being stalked; he is more dangerous when he is backing up than when he is moving forward. Chuck is one of the best counter-punchers the octagon has ever seen. More importantly, it is widely known that the last thing an aging fighter loses is his punching power, and Chuck has oodles of it.
Even though Chuck has lost three of his last four fights, I still think he has more than enough in his arsenal to deal with Rua. I see Shogun chasing Liddell only to be caught with one of those thunderous, bone-jarring punches he has been so generous with over the course of his career. You know what else I see? I see Shogun lying on his back with a referee crouched over him waving his arms. Thank god for “The Iceman,” the gift that keeps on giving.
By: MMA Omniscient
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Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has had an enormously successful career in PRIDE; he has beaten some of the sport’s top fighters including Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Kevin Randleman, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, and Alistair Overeem. However, the success he had in PRIDE did not travel with him to the United States. It must have gotten lost with his luggage; goddamn baggage handlers! Rua was expected to come into the UFC and wreak havoc on the light heavyweight division; to date, this prophecy has not come to pass.
In his first UFC fight, Shogun faced Forrest Griffin, who many analysts thought would be an easy fight for him. However, Forrest silenced the critics by dominating Rua for three rounds before submitting him. There is no real intelligent way to put it, so I am just going to say that Forrest kicked the living shit out of him. Of course, the critics hate to eat their words so, after the fight, there was all this talk about Shogun’s injuries. Be that as it may, there are no excuses in MMA. When a fighter decides to take a fight, he is basically communicating that he is healthy enough to do it. If you are too injured to fight, DON’T FRIGGIN’ FIGHT!!
In his second UFC fight, Shogun faced a superannuated Mark “The Hammer” Coleman. Perhaps the powers that be in the UFC thought a 44 year-old has-been was just the thing to jumpstart the domination we were all waiting for. Once again, it was not to be. Although Shogun did end up getting his first UFC victory, it was a subpar performance. It was glaringly obvious that Rua was out of shape; he started sucking wind as early as the middle of the first round. It looked like two fighters in their forties going at it, rather than one forty-something and an up-and-coming 28 year-old. In my opinion, Coleman was 24 seconds away from a decision victory before he was caught with a punch and ultimately TKO’d. Rua won, what I would call, another shit-show.
If Rua comes into this fight looking like he did in his last two, Chuck Liddell should have an easy night. Even if he does manage to pull it together and shows up in shape for the fight, stylistically, it is not a good match-up for Shogun. Why? Because he’s a fighter that throws caution to the wind and comes straight at his opponents. We all know that Liddell is at his best when he is being stalked; he is more dangerous when he is backing up than when he is moving forward. Chuck is one of the best counter-punchers the octagon has ever seen. More importantly, it is widely known that the last thing an aging fighter loses is his punching power, and Chuck has oodles of it.
Even though Chuck has lost three of his last four fights, I still think he has more than enough in his arsenal to deal with Rua. I see Shogun chasing Liddell only to be caught with one of those thunderous, bone-jarring punches he has been so generous with over the course of his career. You know what else I see? I see Shogun lying on his back with a referee crouched over him waving his arms. Thank god for “The Iceman,” the gift that keeps on giving.
By: MMA Omniscient
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