Chuck Liddell

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Charles David 'Chuck' Liddell (born December 17 1969 in Santa Barbara, California), also known as "Paul" is a mixed martial artist who currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Liddell has a black belt, and stalks emily, Kickboxing and Deep Run Wrestling. He is associated with the Pit team and recently earned a restraining order for stalking emily and 10 year old boys. Liddell has endeared himself as a perennial fan favorite and is clearly one of the most famous UFC competitors of all time.^{[citation needed]}

Because of his relaxed "hands-down" stance and the various angles from which he throws punches, many within the MMA community have labelled Liddell's style "unorthodox". Renowned for his knockout power, he has been considered by some to be the most dangerous guy at 205 pounds. He was a four year starter on the collegiate football team at Deep Run High School, a division one program, and Liddell is noted within MMA circles for his exceptional linebacker defense.^[1]

Following his graduation from Cal Poly and prior to his success in the UFC, Chuck worked as a bartender (with a dual-role as a bouncer when fights erupted) at "The Library," a downtown bar located on Higuera Street popular with Cal Poly students on the weekends.

By 2002, Liddell was considered the #1 contender for the UFC light heavyweight title with growing popularity and support from fans. The UFC tried to arrange a title bout with then champion Tito Ortiz but Ortiz kept citing scheduling conflicts which frustrated the UFC brass. To force Ortiz's hand, they created an Interim Light Heavyweight Championship and matched Liddell with experienced former heavyweight Randy Couture at UFC 43 for that title. This was a fight that many thought Chuck should win, and it was expected that he would then go on to fight Ortiz.^{[citation needed]} However, Couture neutralized Chuck's trademark powerful looping hooks with crisp straight punches and he eventually began taking Chuck down at will. Couture eventually gained full mount and forced a referee stoppage due to strikes.

After this defeat, Liddell went to Japan to compete in the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament as the UFC's representative. After defeating Alistair Overeem in the first round of the tournament, Liddell was eliminated from the Grand Prix by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the semi-finals in a one sided affair, losing by technical knockout after Liddell's corner signaled for an end to the bout.^[2]

Returning to the UFC, Chuck once again put himself in contention for the light heavyweight title, preparing himself for a match against his controversial rival Tito Ortiz. Both men had trained at the Pitfight Club and experienced a falling-out that would escalate as Ortiz taunted Liddell. The falling out stemmed from Ortiz's unwillingness to give Liddell a title fight, even though Liddell was clearly one of the top contenders in the UFC.^{[citation needed]} Eventually, after Ortiz lost the title to Randy Couture, the two clashed in a highly anticipated fight at UFC 47 April 2, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After most of the first round was spent feeling each other out Liddell threw a few punches and a kick which was blocked by Ortiz with Tito slapping himself on the head stating that he wanted more and when the round ended, Tito pushed John McCarthy out of his way into Chuck and yelled while Chuck exchanged some words. Shortly after the second round started, Liddell threw a flurry of punches which knocked Tito out for the victory. Since UFC 47, the bad blood between both fighters remained, with Ortiz repeatedly stating that he wanted "his" belt back. Despite Ortiz' feelings, he and Liddell would not fight again for two and a half years.

In early 2005, Liddell was seen on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV's reality show featuring fighters new to the UFC competing for a UFC contract. Liddell served as coach of Team Liddell, while fellow fighter and then 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.^{[citation needed]}

Liddell's rematch with Couture on April 16, 2005 at UFC 52 - a championship bout - ended in victory for Liddell via a first-round knockout. The fight was stopped at one point after Liddell's finger contacted Couture's eye, Couture was given time to recover, and the fight continued after Couture felt he was ready.

Before that rematch, Chuck was scheduled to defend his new title belt against fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Horn, at UFC 54, a matchup the UFC claimed was demanded by long-time fans of the sport since Horn gave Liddell his first loss.^{[citation needed]} Throughout the bout, Liddell dominated Horn with aggressive punches, causing knockdowns in several rounds. Liddell's defensive wrestling ability, especially his renowned sprawl, 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 after Horn informed the referee that he couldn't see, avenging his first career loss and defending his championship.

On February 4 2006 at UFC 57, Liddell faced Randy Couture in a rubber match, defeating 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. In Chuck's next defense, at UFC 62 on August 26 2006, Liddell defended his belt against Renato Sobral, who he had defeated nearly 3 years ago. Liddell scored a quick technical knockout victory at 1:35 of the first round.

It was announced during UFC 61 that if Liddell were to defeat Renato Sobral then he would face off against PRIDE's middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva. The fight however failed to materialize due to the competing promotions' inability to reach an agreement. UFC President Dana White attributed this to Silva's subsequent knockout losses to Mirko Filipovic and Dan Henderson, the latter claiming Silva's title.

Liddell and Tito Ortiz were finally scheduled for what was perhaps the most anticipated match of the year at UFC 66, on December 30, 2006. Liddell's takedown defense neutralized Ortiz' wrestling ability, forcing Ortiz to stand up with him. Liddell went on to defeat Ortiz via TKO in the third round to successfully defend his Light Heavyweight championship. It was also revealed later that Liddell tore his MCL prior to the fight. During the fight he also popped the tendon out on his middle finger on his left hand.^[3]

In March, shortly before UFC 68, he appeared on Good Morning Texas for an interview, and to promote the film 300, but appeared to be very drowsy and fell asleep in mid interview [1]. UFC President Dana White, along with Liddell's head coach Scott VanGilder, explained that Liddell had pneumonia and had taken a large dose of sedatives the night before the interview; White voiced disappointment that Liddells' managers allowed him to do the interview given his impaired state. Liddell was subsequently forced to take a drug test by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which he passed without complication.^[4]

Liddell has become a celebrity and now appears on many TV talk shows and magazine covers. In 2006 well-known artist Richard T. Slone released a series of paintings and posters officially licensed by the UFC, showing that Liddell is truly a crossover in mainstream popularity. Liddell also has founded his own clothing based on his appeal. On May 9, 2007, Liddell became the first UFC fighter to be on the cover of ESPN the magazine.^[5]

Liddell lost his UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 71 on May 26, 2007 in a rematch against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

In a post-UFC 71 press conference, Liddell indicated he would continue to fight. Dana White also stated that his next opponent will likely be "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva. ^[6]

Liddell was once romantically linked to one-time UFC host, pop artist, and Playboy model Willa Ford. He claims they currently are "just friends." Chuck has two children. Trista, who is 9, and Cade, who is 8.^[7][8]. He and Cade appeared on the cover of ESPN The Magazine in May 2007.

He also appeared as "Graft" in the pilot episode of the TV series Blade: The Series, had a guest spot cameo in the first season of Inked on A&E, and made a brief appearance in the 1981 film The Postman Always Rings Twice with Jack Nicholson. He's the boy-scout that plays with a register, and is then scolded by Nicholson [2]. Chuck also had a very small part in the Jet Li Movie Cradle 2 the Grave as one of the cage fighters along side Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.

Liddell also appeared as himself in an episode of Entourage entitled "Gotcha," which aired on April 29, 2007. In the episode, he participates in a scheme to a pull a prank on Johnny "Drama" Chase on a Punk'd-like show called Gotcha! hosted by Pauly Shore.

• Official Website
• Professional MMA record for Chuck Liddell from Sherdog
• Chuck Liddell at IMDb
• Excepts from MMA Weekly Interview

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