Then End Of The Ice[man] Age

Chuck Liddell started his professional career as a mixed martial arts fighter back when the UFC was still just getting off the ground. It still wasn’t a  sport that was even considered a sport by many and sadly fell in to the same category at pro-wrestling and such. It wasn’t considered to be a serious sport like boxing, but I think that was mainly because at that time it was still just breaking away from the early brawler type fights and there wasn’t a lot of fighters that showed technical skill.

Imag: PrPhotos.com

As the sport grew and more fighters came in the the UFC, Chuck Liddell was still Chuck Liddell. He may not have been the most well rounded, adaptive fighter, but everyone knew who “The Iceman” was. He had a stand-up game that few could match and combos that looked almost choreographed as he let loose and fired away. If he started unloading, there was a good chance that the fight would be stopped soon after or his opponent would be knocked out somewhere in the mix.

By 2007 Liddell had three losses on his record. Of the three opponents he lost to, he had faced them again and had won. The only opponent he had lost to that he had yet to face again was Quinton Jackson, whom he faced in May of 2007. Chuck Liddell had been the Light-Heavyweight champion for over two years and had defended the belt 4 times against opponents such as Tito Ortiz, Jeremy Horn and a rematch against the man he won the title from, Randy Couture. Jackson, the younger man by 9 years just came off of a knock out win over Marvin Eastman in his first fight in the UFC and was hungry for the belt.

Liddell lost by TKO in the first round with Jackson. This seemed to be where things went down hill for The Iceman. 4 Months later he lost by decision after three rounds with Keith Jardine. In a highly hyped fight 3 months later, Liddell beat Wanderlei Silva by decision after three rounds in Silva’s first UFC since 2000. Chuck was on the comeback…so we thought.

9 Months later, Chuck has had quite a nice break between fights, as he should have. Rashad Evans, winner of the Light-Heavyweight contract from season 2 of The Ultimate Fighter had shown that he was no slouch that got lucky from a reality show. He, like Forrest Griffin was here to compete and win. A minute and 51 seconds in to round two and Evans catches Liddell with a big right, knocking him out cold. This is the first time that we saw Chuck get knocked out completely. Some people were talking about a Liddell retirement at this point.

At the post right presser Chuck Liddell never said for sure that he would be retiring from MMA. He left it open for the moment saying that he wanted to discuss it with friends and family. However, UFC President Dana White has pretty much made the decision for him, saying “He’s a huge superstar, and we could still sell lots of tickets, but I don’t care about that. I care about him. I care about his health, and it’s over, man. It’s over.“. White also mentioned that Liddell would likely continue to work with the UFC in one way or another.

Chuck Liddell always came out and fought his heart out. He was easily recognized in the ring with his blue shorts (most of the time), the short “Mohawk” style haircut, and how can we forget his beer gut that he somehow managed to keep fairly muscular and semi-cut. Lastly, when Liddell didn’t have that serious, “I’m going to kick the crap out of you” look on his face, he had one of those smiles that tells you that he’s real.  Ok, this is starting to sound like a eulogy. Anyway, you knew you were going to watch an exciting fight when Liddell was on the card, whether he won or not. If this last fight was in fact Chuck Liddell’s last fight, then he will be missed.