Gourt Home::Gourt :: Chuck Liddell
Charles David Liddell (born December 17 1969 in Santa Barbara, California), popularly referred to as Chuck Liddell, and also known as "The Iceman," is a mixed martial artist with a background in kickboxing. He currently fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
Primarily a striker, Liddell prides himself on his wrestling skills which he learned while at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he earned a degree in business and accounting. He is a fearsome opponent both standing up and on the ground, and has endeared himself as a fan favorite. Liddell is associated with the Pitfight team and often enters the ring to the music of Minnesota rock band American Head Charge. Liddell was featured in the band's music video for the song "Cowards".
Career
Liddell's mixed martial arts journey began in 1998, when he earned a decision victory over a boxer named Noe Hernandez at UFC 17. From there, he went on to vanquish such opponents as Jose Landi-Jons, Guy Mezger and Kevin Randleman. Liddell was also matched against the skilled Middleweight champion, Murilo Bustamante; although Liddell received the judges' decision, many dispute the victory. Despite his winning streak and strong performances, it wasn't until he beat "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort at UFC 37.5 that he was considered to be among the top echelon within the light heavyweight division of Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Immediately following a loss to Randy Couture at UFC 43, Liddell prepared himself for a match against his controversial rival, Tito Ortiz. Both men had trained at the Pitfight Club and experienced a fall-out that would escalate as Ortiz taunted Liddell. On April 2nd, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Liddell defeated Ortiz at UFC 47. Since then, the tension between both fighters has been documented throughout the MMA world.
Recently, Liddell was seen on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV's breakthrough reality show featuring fighters new to the UFC competing for a UFC contract. Liddell served as coach of Team Liddell, while fellow fighter and concurrent UFC Light Heavyweight champ Randy Couture coached Team Couture. The series was a success for both Spike TV and the UFC. Both of the winners of TUF, Diego Sanchez and Forrest Griffin, were members of Team Liddell, and they have gone onto wide-spread notoriety.
Liddell's highly anticipated rematch with Couture on April 16, 2005 at UFC 52 - a championship bout - ended in victory for Liddell via first-round knockout. The fight was almost stopped at one point after Liddell's finger contacted Couture's eye, but the doctors permitted the fight to continue. This victory set the tone for a future rematch between Couture and Liddell.
Before that rematch would occur, however, Chuck was scheduled to defend his new title belt against fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Horn, at UFC 54. Throughout the bout, Liddell dominated Horn with aggressive punches, causing knockdowns in multiple rounds. Liddell's defensive wrestling ability stifled the bulk of Horn's offense, which was centered around grappling and submission wrestling. Liddell eventually won the fight via TKO in 2:46 minutes of the fourth round, avenging a previous career loss and defending the championship.
On February 4th, 2006 at UFC 57, Liddell won, for a second time, a fight against Randy Couture via knockout in Las Vegas, Nevada to retain the Light Heavyweight championship belt. After the fight, Couture announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.
Liddell will be fighting Renato "Babalu" Sobral at UFC 62. It was announced at UFC 61 that if Liddell beats Sobral, he will fight PRIDE Middleweight (205 lb) champion, Wanderlei Silva in November at Las Vegas. Dana White confirmed that the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship will be on the line at a press conference after the fight.*
Personal life
Liddell was once romantically linked to one-time UFC host, multi-platinum pop artist, and Playboy model Willa Ford. He claims they currently are "just friends." * There were also rumors in 2004 he was dating actress Juliette Lewis.
MMA Record
18 wins (11 KO's, 1 submission, 3 decisions), 3 losses (2 KO's, 1 submission), 0 draw.
Film Career
He also appeared as "Graft" in the pilot episode of the TV series The Series.
He also had a guest spot cameo in the first season of "Inked" on A&E.
See also
1969 births | Living people | American mixed martial artists | People from California
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the 
"Chuck Liddell".
Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world