by Alex Hill

Created on: July 28, 2009   Last Updated: August 08, 2009

Charles David Liddell, also known as Chuck "Iceman" Liddell, was born on December 17th, 1969 in Santa Barbara, California. Chuck Liddellis a mixed martial artist with a Koei-Kan Karate-Do, kick-boxing, and collegiate wresting backgrounds and is currently a fighter for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. Chuck takes great pride in his wrestling skills which he learned while attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he earned a business and accounting degree; But make no mistake, The Iceman is a vicious striker with great knockout power. Liddell is a member of the Pitfight Team and was featured in American Head Charge's music video for the song "Cowards." Chuck is known as a fan favorite for his great striking and especially skilled counter-punching techniques.

Chuck Liddell's UFC mixed martial arts career began in 1998 when he defeated a boxer named Noe Hernandez at UFC 17. Chuck went on to defeat opponents such as Guy Mezger, Kevin Randleman, and Jose Landi-Lons before suffering his first loss to Jeremy Horn via arm-triangle choke. Liddell also fought the skilled, then Middleweight Champion, Murilo Bustamante. Liddell won the fight by judge's decision but the decision is disputed still today. Chuck had a winning streak built up and had come of some strong performances but he was still not considered a top Light Heavyweight fighter. That is, he wasn't until UFC 37.5. In UFC 37.5, Liddell defeated "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort. After that, Liddell was considered one of the top Light Heavyweights in the UFC.

By time 2002 rolled around, Chuck Liddell was a legitimate number one contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. So, with support and growing popularity from the fans, all the UFC had to do was schedule a fight with then Champ Tito Ortiz. However, Tito kept making excuses citing scheduling problems among other things, which frustrated fans. To please fans and force Tito Ortiz's hand, the UFC marked an Interim Title Bout between Chuck and Randy Couture. Randy Couture was a former heavyweight that moved to light heavyweight who had a lot of experience. This proved to be the toughest fight of Chuck's career because Randy seemed to be able to neutralize his trademark looping hooks. In the end, Couture took Liddell to the ground and the ref stopped the match via "ground-and-pound" victory for Randy Couture. After this embarrassing defeat, Chuck Liddell served as the UFC's representative in the 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. After

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>