Chuck Liddell - Image: Zuma Press

This won’t be Chuck’s first time on the show. Several seasons ago, his then-girlfriend (or whatever he calls the many beautiful women he’s involved with at any given time) Willa Ford was a contestant and ABC did a little segment on her ‘good friend’ (wink wink) Chuck and the UFC. So as strange as this news is, it really isn’t all that surprising.

I’m still impressed that Chuck is willing to go on the show when he knows it’s gonna result in the 5 billion MMA blogs out there making fun of him for every step and mis-step. The only thing cooler than not giving a crap what people think is a jetpack, and those haven’t been invented yet. So I guess that makes Chuck the coolest cat on the planet.

Here’s the full lineup, courtesy of TVGuide.com:

1. Kathy Ireland, supermodel, author and fashion CEO of Kathy Ireland Worldwide
2. Macy Gray, Grammy-winning singer
3. Melissa Joan Hart, actress and one of the stars on our wish list
4. Mya, R&B singer and actress
5. Ashley Hamilton, actor-comedian and son of Season 2’s George Hamilton
6. Michael Irvin, ex-NFL wide receiver
7. Mark Dacascos, The Chairman on Iron Chef America
8. Donny Osmond, entertainer and brother of Season 5’s Marie Osmond
9. Kelly Osbourne, singer and daughter of Ozzy Osbourne
10. Debi Mazar, Entourage star
11. Chuck Liddell, light heavyweight champion
12. Natalie Coughlin, 11-time Olympic medalist in swimming
13. Joanna Krupa, model; most recently seen on ABC’s The Superstars
14. Louie Vito, snowboarder
15. Aaron Carter, singer and brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter
16. Tom DeLay, former House majority leader

Post from: EveryJoe

Chuck Liddell is on Dancing with the Stars

Chuck Liddell - Image: Zuma Press

While there was speculation that his induction into the Hall of Fame was another nudge by the UFC’s president to push Liddell into retirement, the Iceman told Sports Illustrated on Sunday that he will be taking a year off from fighting and sparring to ‘let his brain heal up.’ Considering his clubbing adventures almost sound rougher than his actual fights, this may or may not work out all that well for him.

Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis is best known for the two seasons of the TV show Tapout, but his contributions to the sport go back even further than Chuck’s. You can’t leave the house now without seeing someone wearing a Tapout shirt, but back in 1997 the business was run out of the back of a friend’s car. That didn’t stop Lewis from spreading his meager wealth around … There’s an endless list of fighters from back in the day who Tapout helped keep in the business via sponsorships. Mask died earlier this year in a car crash.

The induction ceremony will take place at the UFC Fan Expo on Friday July 10th at 6:30pm Vegas time. Chuck and Mask will be inductees number six and seven, joining Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Randy Couture, and Mark Coleman.

Post from: EveryJoe

UFC Hall of Fame adds Chuck Liddell

Quinton Jackson - Image: Zuma Press

Working backwards, UFC 105 on November 14th is in the UK and expected to feature Michael Bisping vs Anderson Silva if Bisping gets past Dan Henderson. No word yet on what the plan is when that doesn’t happen…. UFC 104 the day before Halloween has Lyoto Machida versus Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, but the real match to watch on that one is the one that was just leaked yesterday: Shane Carwin versus Cain Velasquez. These guys are the future of the heavyweight division and it looks like the UFC is putting them in an eliminator to see who’s ready for a title run.

Those Chuck Liddell rumors I mentioned last week are still floating around, and there are enough headliner gaps in the UFC’s future to slot him into UFC 103 on September 19th or UFC 106 in Vegas on November 21st. Whatever ends up happening, you can pretty much guarantee that the rest of the year is going to be a very good one to be an MMA fan. Here’s the schedule:

UFC 101: August 8th in Philly with BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian
UFC 102: August 29th in Portland with Randy Couture vs Big Nog
UFC Fight Night 19: September 16th with Roger Huerta vs Gray Maynard
UFC 103: September 19th in Dallas
UFC 104: October 24th in Los Angeles with Lyoto Machida vs Shogun Rua
Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale: December 5th with Kimbo Slice
UFC 105: November 14th in Manchester UK
UFC 106: November 21st in Vegas
UFC 107: December 12th in Memphis with Quinton Jackson vs Rashad Evans

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Quinton Jackson vs Rashad Evans in December

Chuck Liddell - Image: Zuma Press

While we haven’t had any official word yet, all signs are now pointing towards Chuck having made a decision to keep fighting. On Saturday Night at the Ultimate Fighter Finale, Dana White went on an Inside the Octagon segment and re-iterated his desire not to see his close friend fight again but added “I’m not his father, he can do whatever the hell he wants to do.”

That might not seem like much, but keep in mind this was a prepared statement directly from the UFC made on national television. There was no reason for Dana White to bring the topic back up except to backtrack on the issue and open the door for Chuck’s return.

Now just a few days afterwards, there are unconfirmed reports coming out that the UFC is looking for Chuck’s next opponent, with Rich Franklin being named as a possibility. Again, I want to stress that none of this has been officially or even semi-officially confirmed but you know the saying: where there’s smoke there’s fire and right now I’m seeing a ton of smoke.

Post from: EveryJoe

Rumors swirl of Chuck Liddell’s return

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.

Post from: EveryJoe

Then End Of The Ice[man] Age

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Some  people say that WEC fighters aren’t of the same caliber of UFC fighters. When you see some of the top WEC contenders that transitioned to the UFC after the weight class change lose, it’s almost hard to disagree.

Undercard

• Elliot Marshall defeated Vinicius Magalhaes by unanimous decision after three rounds. It appears that Vinny Magalhaes still has a lot to work on when it comes to his stand up defense.
• T.J. Grant defeated Ryo Chonan in a split decision after 3 rounds.
• Mark Bocek defeated David Bielkheden with a rear naked choke at  4:57 of round 1.
• Ed Herman defeated David Loiseau with a unanimous decision after 3 rounds.
• Nate Quarry defeated. Jason MacDonald by TKO at 2:27 in round 1.
• Denis Kang defeated Xavier Foupa-Pokam in a unanimous decision after 3 rounds.

Televised Card

• Luiz Cane defeated Steve Cantwell in a unanimous decision after 3 rounds.
• Cheick Kongo defeated Antoni Hardonk by TKO at 2:29 of round 2.
• Krzysztof Soszynski defeated Brian Stann with a kimura at 3:53 of round 1. I was hoping that Stann would do much better but it seems that Krzsztof’s fighting is a little more well rounded than Stann’s. If Stann wants to stick around the UFC, he’d better work on his ground game. We know he’s a slugger but his ground game obviously needs some improvement.
• Mauricio Rua defeated Chuck Liddell by TKO at 4:28 in round 1. There is a lot of serious talk about Liddell retiring now. I’ve always liked Liddell, but after seeing him lose to Jackson, Evans and now Rua, it’s hard to not want him to retire. Still a legend in the sport.
• Sam Stout defeated Matt Wiman with a unanimous decision after 3 rounds.
• Anderson Silva defeated Thales Leites in a unanimous decision after 5 rounds. Wow, 5 rounds! There is a lot of buzz that there was a lack of action in this fight and a lot of crowd booing. The Canadian crowd got so bored with the fight that they stared chanting “GSP”!. Silva still retains the title and the record for most consecutive wins in the UFC.

You can read more of the play-by-play at UFC.com.

• Read about the Silva Fight .
• Read about the other fights .

Post from: EveryJoe

UFC 97: Silva And Leites Go 5 Rounds

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I’m still up in the air whether I’m going to order the PPV. I want to see the fight but times are tough all over and I’m not sure if I want to spend the money just yet. It’s such a great card it’s hard to think about NOT watching it. Once again, here is the fight card.

Pay-Per-View  Main Card

• Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites
• Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
• Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brian Stann
• Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk
• Steve Cantwell vs. Luiz Cane

Preliminary Card

• Vinny Magalhaes vs. Eliot Marshall
• Denis Kang vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
• Nate Quarry vs. Jason MacDonald
• David “The Crow” Loiseau vs. Ed Herman
• Mark Bocek vs. David Bielkheden
• Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant
• Sam Stout vs. Matt Wiman

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UFC 97 Weigh In Open To Public

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Chuck Liddell’s UFC 97 Video Blog

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Rashad Evan UFC 92 Interview

Sure it will be a "Highly anticipated fight", but if Silva is going to move up in weight class, why would they start him off against Liddell. Perhaps they want to see if he is just as good a fighter in a higher weight class as he is in the middleweight class.

Chuck Liddell isn’t going to back down from a challenge, especially if he feels that he has something to prove. If he wins, he will be the first person to beat Anderson Silva in the UFC. It could prove to be an interesting fight but I just don’t know where the UFC is going sometimes with odd match ups like this and like last Saturday’s PPV.

Post from: EveryJoe

Liddell Vs. Silva At UFC 95?