It’s that time again to name this weeks Freak of the Week! You the fans had your own choice this week and my boy and co-host of MMA-Freak Live Tiger Taylor got the ball rolling with his choice on last nights podcast. You the fans must have been pumped up by his choice.
~ Chuck Liddell ~
Charles David “Chuck” Liddell or as you the fans know him, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, is still known for his knockout power and his admiration of his fans. Liddell is a UFC Hall-of-Famer, and still holds the record for second most knockouts in UFC history behind Anderson Silva. Not many UFC stars started their career inside the UFC’s octagon, but Chuck is not one of them. He debuted at UFC 17 against Noe Hernandez, where he utilized his power, striking, and wrestling to capture a unanimous in a 12 minute round.
“The Iceman” is still considered one of the best kickboxers with takedown defense that the UFC has ever seen. His winning record is a whose who of top names. His trilogy with Randy Couture and his rivalry with Tito Ortiz will go down in UFC history. Chuck lost to Couture at UFC 43 bringing in a 10 fight win streak, in what some still consider a upset by Couture.
Liddell was on a tear beating Jeff Monson, Kevin Randleman, Guy Mezger, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, and Renato Sobral (awesome head kick KO) before the streak ended. From there Chuck would retreat to Pride (where some believe the competition was stronger) knocking out Alistair Overeem and losing to Quinton Jackson.
“The Iceman” would return to the UFC coming off a loss, and was ready to make a statement. Liddell returned beating the piss out of former “best friend” Tito Ortiz in what I still consider the best UFC rivalry of all time. Liddell would go on a 7 fight winning streak while capturing the UFC light heavyweight championship in the process. He defeated Randy Couture for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 52, getting revenge from his previous loss and became the first person to ever knockout “The Natural.”
In that run Liddell would also avenge his first loss defeating Jeremy Horn at UFC 54. In one of the most dominating UFC light heavyweight title runs, Chuck would finish all of his opponents and beat Sobral again, smashed Tito’s face (again), and was able to KO Couture again to end the trilogy 2-1 against “The Natural.”
Liddell had one of the most dominating UFC careers of all time and holds multiple records and achievements:
- UFC Hall of Famer
- UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)
- Four successful title defenses
- Fight of the Night (Two times)
- Knockout of the Night (One time)
- Tied (Frank Shamrock and Jon Jones) for second most title defenses in the Light Heavyweight division (4)
- Most knockouts in the Light Heavyweight division (10)
- Second most knockouts in UFC history (10)
- Two separate seven-fight win streaks in the UFC
- Most wins in the Light Heavyweight division (16)
- Tied (Randy Couture; Anderson Silva) for third most wins in UFC history (16)
- 2006 Sherdog Fighter of the year
- World MMA Awards
- 2007 Fight of the Year vs. Wanderlei Silva on December 29, 2007
- Spike TV Guys’ Choice Awards
- 2007 Most Dangerous Man
Chuck from 2004 (UFC 47) to 2006 (UFC 66) was a force to be reckoned with and was destroying guys left and right with his left and right. Tito and Rampage are very significant to Chuck’s career in my opinion. After Chuck lost the first time to Jackson, he returned to beat Ortiz.
He then fought Ortiz one more time years later just to run back into “Rampage” Jackson. When Jackson came into the UFC he was a perfect fight for Liddell and the fans of the 205 division. But what happened during the fight left “Iceman” fans in a puddle of their own cold tears. Not only was it not even a fight and Chuck Liddell was knockout early, but it was the witnessing of the end of the Liddell era and his career.
Liddell ended his career losing 5 of his last six fights with his only win being a war he had with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79. Some still consider “Rampage” Jackson to be the one that ended Chuck’s career, or at least started the downfall of “The Iceman,” and I couldn’t agree more.This is when the “glass jaw” era of Liddell’s started. He was tko’ed/knocked out in his last 3 fights before retiring.
~ Final Thought ~
Liddell will always be one of my favorite fighters of all time, should be known as a ambassador of the sport, and an all around nice guy who if necessary would break your face. If you want to watch fights with dominating fighters who came to finish their opponents, than any highlight of Liddell’s will never disappoint.
His knockout(s)/TKO’s of Overeem, Couture, Tito (twice) and Sobral are legendary. His rivalry with Tito will always go down as the best rivalry of all time to many fans, including myself.