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CHUCK LIDDELL When
the Octagon
Page 1 - part 1 - 5
© Marc Wickert All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa
LLC On April 2, 2004, one of the most highly anticipated fights in MMA history will take place. In fact fans have been calling for this match-up for so long, UFC 47 has been titled "It’s On!" The two gladiators at the centre of all the attention are light heavyweights Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. And there is no love lost between the two extraordinary fighters. These gifted athletes are as eager to thrash it out in the Octagon as the millions of UFC fans are eager to view the bout on p-p-v television worldwide. And it’s not just promoters’ hype: This grudge match has been building up for a long time. "We had two photo sessions to do the commercial for UFC 47; we were nose-to-nose and we didn’t say ‘Hi’. We didn’t say one word to each other. We were nose-to-nose when they did the photo shoot for the poster and for when they did the video shoot another time. We were there for maybe an hour each time and we didn’t say one word to each other," says Liddell. Although Chuck Liddell is recognized as being one of the best strikers in MMA, his ground skills should not be underestimated. Chuck wrestled at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara for four years, and was appointed captain of the school wrestling team. He has also fine-tuned his submission skills under the guidance of renowned BJJ instructor John Lewis. "I’ve been working with John Lewis of the J-Sect Jiu Jitsu Academy in Las Vegas for almost six years now. And I’ve been doing some work with a couple of guys from Carlson Gracie as well."
However it was Chuck’s striking prowess that drew him acclaim as one of the most street-effective fighters in MMA. His Muay Thai skills earned him heavyweight titles in USMPA (an American Thai boxing association) and WKA (World Kickboxing Association) and two national kickboxing belts. For Chuck’s toe-to-toe training he has remained with The Pit’s John Hackleman as his kickboxing instructor. For Liddell’s battle with Ortiz, Chuck believes Tito will want the fight to be a grappling match. "I guarantee Tito will want to take it to the ground. I will be happy if Tito decides to actually stand with me for a little bit, but I don’t see him doing anything but trying to take it down. And if he does stand for a few seconds, as soon as I hit him once so hard -even if it’s just on the arm – he’s going to want to go back to just shooting, trying to take me down. He’s already afraid of my power from when he trained with me. He’s a tough fighter, but he’s afraid to get hit." To counter this projection of Tito’s game plan, Chuck Liddell is a stand-up fighter who has a reputation for being able to defend against takedowns. He demonstrated these skills against Paul Jones (UFC 22: There Can Only Be One Champion), Jeff Monson (UFC 29: Defense Of The Belts) and Murilo Bustamante (UFC 33: Victory In Vegas). At UFC 31: Locked And Loaded, Liddell KO’d Hammer House wrestler and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman in a clinch during an attempted takedown. "Tito will probably look at my fight with Randy Couture and try to imitate it, but Tito’s fear of being hit will keep him from being able to do that. The thing that Randy has going for him is the fact that he is not afraid to get hit. And Randy is a better wrestler than Tito, as he proved when they fought."
In preparation for Liddell’s fight against Randy Couture, it appeared Chuck was focusing more on later fighting Tito. Before Chuck’s bout with Quinton Jackson, Liddell seemed more focused on fighting Vanderlei Silva. For Chuck’s meeting with Tito on April 2nd Liddell will be training purely to defeat Tito Ortiz. "Above anybody else I want to beat Tito. He’s been mouthing off about me for a long time and I’m ready to shut him up. More than anything I want to beat him. And he will be an easier fight for me than Randy was, because Randy is a much better wrestler than Tito." Chuck says Tito’s claim that he and Chuck were good friends, and that that was why they hadn’t fought in the past is just an excuse for Tito not to face Chuck in the Octagon. "He used that to keep from fighting me. We were never good friends. I mean, I used to like the guy, but we just trained together. I’ve trained with a lot of guys. I trained with him about 10 times, total. And I never did anything outside fighting business with him. "I mean, I stayed at his house a couple of times when we trained together, but even then, I brought a friend of mine with me. And my friend and I hung out at Tito’s house, and we’d eat dinner and Tito would go up to his room and do stuff on his computer, while my friend and I would sit in the living room and watch TV or go out and do something together. We didn’t even hang out then. It was business. Any fighters I know, when I see them outside of fighting, I hang out with them: they’re cool. I think most fighters in general are good guys. So I can hang out with them, but that doesn’t make us close friends, and that doesn’t mean I can’t fight them."
At UFC 371/2 Chuck Liddell fought Vitor Belfort on June 22, 2002, to determine the number one contender for UFC’s Light Heavyweight Title. Liddell won by unanimous decision. And Chuck would be happy to face Vitor again: anytime. "That was at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I think it would be an exciting fight again too. Both of us will stand there and hit each other, we’ll both do a little striking and a little wrestling. It was an exciting fight the first time and it was really close. It could have gone either way until the last round when I dropped him with the right hand. That kind of sealed it for me. I thought I was winning at the time, but I think that just sealed it for me." Further down the road, Chuck has his sights set on a match with Vandelei Silva, and says he can’t understand why organizers haven’t put that fight together already. He believes it would be a PRIDE type of fight with both men standing toe-to-toe and slugging it out. "We’d just stand in front of each other and pound each other until one of us fell down. I’m pretty sure it would only take place in Japan. I don’t see PRIDE….I have a better chance of UFC letting me go over there than PRIDE letting him come over here." UFC President Dana White mentioned in his article at www.knucklepit.com that Liddell has a huge following in Japan, recalling how Chuck visited a shopping mall there and security had to whisk Chuck away in a car to avoid a riot by fans. The cool Liddell, known as The Iceman, confirms the story, calmly stating, "Yeah, they like my fighting style over there." In order to keep up his enormous striking power and maintain a high fitness level, Chuck does circuit training to combine his stamina workouts with his strength training, so the two forms of exercise don’t conflict. "I have a strength and conditioning coach who puts that all together, and he’s really careful with what I do. But a lot of the time I’ll combine it, like I’ll do say five sets of squats for around 6-10 reps. Then I go from there with everything else on that day being part of a circuit, where I’ll do three lifts, then I’ll run out on a mat and do sprints, sprawls and a bunch of other cardio exercises. I’ll then come back and lift again, and repeat the circuit." Chuck says that, as his training gets closer to a fight, he’ll break the circuits down into rounds of about five or six minutes. He then takes a one-minute break between circuits to simulate his training with the upcoming fight: getting used to the round structure and getting used to the one-minute rest. "I aim for high-repetition, explosive lifting, with the goal being to have the capacity to explode powerfully over an extended period of time. Doing a 1-rep max is not going to do much for me. I need to have explosive power for 15 or 20 minutes." While Chuck Liddell is the centre of attention in the Octagon, in his youth Chuck played a small part in the movie The Postman Always Rings Twice, starring Jack Nicholson. "I was an extra in that. Everyone thought it was funny to put that in there (Extended Bio www.ufc.tv). I was a kid of eleven years at the time. I was a boy scout in the movie, and you can see me playing with the register or something when Jack Nicholson kicks me out from behind the counter." Another movie Liddell worked on was Cradle to the Grave. But Chuck says he’s never had aspirations to be an actor, however if any cameo roles came up, he’d do anything to help promote the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. And Chuck Liddell’s prediction for UFC 47?
"I’m planning on knocking Tito out. If he tries to stand with me, I’ll knock him out in the first round. If he’s wrestling, it might take me a little bit, but I’ll catch him."
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges
Just 27 seconds into round two of Chuck
Liddell’s battle with Tito Ortiz at UFC 47: It’s On! Chuck moved
in and fired a barrage of jabs, rights, hooks and uppercuts like a
nitro-powered gattling gun. Referee Big John McCarthy had no option
but to step in and save Tito from the onslaught. Result: Liddell by KO
– 0.38, Round Two.
"I was really excited. It was good. I was able to go out there and do what I said I could do. Actually, I thought if I’d had about five more seconds in that first round, I could have finished him then. Looking back, I probably should have pressured him earlier, but the knockout came soon enough I guess," says Liddell. Ring announcer Bruce Buffer described the roar from the crowd for Liddell v Ortiz as one of the two loudest audience responses he’d ever heard, the other being for the Ortiz v Shamrock fight. The thunder from the audience was so loud when referee Big John McCarthy stepped in to separate the fighters, that ring commentators Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan did not hear the bell signal the round’s end, and they thought Big John was stopping the fight prematurely. "Yeah, that was probably the loudest crowd I’ve fought in front of. Or not probably, that was the loudest crowd I’ve ever fought in front of. They were very excited. However, I did realized the round was over. I had Tito hurt, but I knew they weren’t stopping the fight yet. I did know it was just the end of the round."
Leading up to previous fights, Liddell’s Thai-boxing coach, John Hackleman, had been concerned that Chuck was devoting too much of his time performing PR duties for his sport, and not enough time preparing for fights. Hackleman said Chuck was better prepared for the Ortiz fight. "John always complains about PR stuff, but I mean, he’s gotta realize that that’s part of the game. We did quite a bit of PR work for the Ortiz fight. I probably did more PR stuff for that match than I have for any other fight. It’s hard for John, because he has to make sure I get all my training in. He doesn’t mind my doing the PR: He just doesn’t like my travelling to do it when I should be training." Hackleman also said he doesn’t believe anybody could have beaten Liddell the night he defeated Tito. Chuck also shares that feeling. "Oh yeah, I was in great shape…Everything was on…My timing and accuracy were on. Everything was ready and I felt great that night. And I was ready to go. That’s the best I’ve felt up until now. When I was sparring those couple of days before it, I couldn’t miss. I was actually planning on using a spinning back-kick, because I was landing them on everybody. I mean, guys that I train with that I normally can’t land it on, I was landing it on. So I was ready."
Despite more grappling techniques being incorporated in earlier UFC tournaments, the majority of UFC 47’s matches were fought toe-to-toe. Chuck agrees part of this was due to strikers becoming more skilled at defending against takedowns. "I think as guys get better at defending against takedowns, and as wrestling guys get better at striking, you’ll see a lot more stand-up and a lot more toe-to-toe. Everyone’s getting so good on the ground, so it’s getting harder and harder to get a submission." Liddell was in the audience for UFC 48: Pay Back, and says of the eight matches, the one that stuck in his mind was Frank Mir v Tim Sylvia. "It’s hard not to have that arm break stand out in your mind. When they first stopped it I thought, ‘What are they doing?’ I was in the same bag as the crowd. Then they showed the replay on the TV and I thought, ‘Oooh…That didn’t look too good.’ But yeah, oh yeah, Herb Dean did the right thing. I mean the arm was broken. What are you going to do? You could see it break, and you’ve gotta stop it. I’m the last guy to say to stop a fight for any reason, but if the arm’s broken, you’ve got to stop the fight. I mean, he’s (Tim Sylvia) a tough guy and he would have kept fighting with a broken arm. And that’s a tough guy. But at some point you’ve got to stop the thing."
At UFC 49: Unfinished Business, Randy Couture will be taking on Vitor Belfort for the World Light Heavweight Title. And Chuck has been guaranteed a rematch against the winner. "I fight Vernon White first. I fight him August 21. But I don’t know…As I said before, I give the edge to Randy against Vitor, but Vitor is a tough guy too, so it will be an interesting fight. And I’ll be ready for either one of them when it’s over. "I don’t know if Vernon will want to take it to the ground with me, but I think once he gets hit a few times he might. Before that, I’m sure he’ll try striking with me a little bit. I mean, he’s a decent striker and he likes to stand up, but from the fights I’ve seen him in, he doesn’t have a great shot anyway. And he doesn’t have great takedowns. He’s going to know it’ll take some work. He’ll have to at least get me in a striking game so I’m not defending against takedowns as much, to set me up."
Should the fight go to the ground, Chuck believes his grappling skills are easily a match for Vernon’s. "I’m not worried about his grappling. I’ve been doing that for a long time. And my partner, Scott Adams, has a very similar style. Actually, I think Scott’s better. You know, a real similar style to Vernon’s. He goes for the leg locks and things. He does a lot of the same stuff. He tries to get your back and he’s always looking for submissions. >From what I’ve seen, that’s kinda how Vernon does stuff. He’s looking for submissions at all costs. He’s not a real position-oriented guy. He’s just looking for a submission…trying to catch something." Liddell is doing three months’ preparation at The Pit with Hackleman (see knucklepit article on John Hackleman) for the Vernon White showdown. Chuck works his strength and fitness with Tom Tom. And for grappling, Liddell trains with gym partner Scott Adams and BJJ instructor John Lewis. "I’ve stayed with John Lewis (J-sect Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in Las Vegas). He’s been really busy, but I’m still getting with him, here and there, working on my grappling. Scott Adams and I have a gym, the SLO Kickboxing School, and we’ve trained together probably ever since I started UFC." For the bout with White, Chuck hasn’t altered his preparation much, doing the same amount of groundwork, but focusing more on submissions and less on takedowns. Chuck feels there could be less need for stand-up wrestling and more need for ground wrestling/submission work. "If everything goes my way against Vernon, I’m going to knock him out. That’s what I’m planning on doing. He’s an awkward fighter and hits at odd angles some times, but I think I’m going to be able to get my hands on him sooner or later within those three rounds, somewhere."
Chuck, do you have a message for your fans? "Hey, keep watching me. I’m going to keep knocking people out. And I plan on getting that title." CHUCK LIDDELL Part 3
The Iceman Always
Rings Twice 
© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges Coming off straight wins against Tito Ortiz and Vernon White, Chuck Liddell is now going for the hat trick when he takes on world light-heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, at UFC 52 on April 16. And Chuck says he’s in superb condition for the long-awaited rematch: "I’m feeling good. I’m really healthy and getting in great shape. My weight’s down pretty good, and I started training a little earlier than I usually do," says Liddell. When Chuck last fought Randy at UFC 43: Meltdown on June 6, 2003, Liddell seemed more focused on his next anticipated match against Tito Ortiz, and suffered a loss to Couture. This time Chuck says he’s only been concentrating on one thing leading up to his rematch with Randy: getting the light-heavyweight belt. "That’s all I’ve been focusing on. I’ve wanted this rematch for a long time. Our last fight was years ago, so I’ve been waiting a long time for this. This should have happened in April, last year, but that freak accident with Randy vs Vitor – that weird cut, that meant they had to have a rematch first, and it put things back a little." Chuck is confident the Liddell vs Couture II showdown will not be a repeat of their earlier fight and feels he is in much better shape for this meeting. A marked improvement in Chuck’s fitness was evident in his bouts with Ortiz and White, after Liddell took on new fitness and strength trainer Tom Tom (Tom Fries). "I think I didn’t wrestle enough for Randy before. I believe that contributed to my getting tired. My cardio was not up to what it should have been. Tom Tom (see knucklepit article) and I had only just started training together, and we were getting used to how he trained and how I trained. But we’ve got everything down now. "I’ve changed my training a little and I’ve put my wrestling and striking together better. Like I said, we’ve got the training down more for this fight after changing my strength and conditioning coaches - a little bit of everything. That’s my goal: always getting a little better every time we go out there." Having delivered some of the biggest hits in Octagon history, Chuck is featured on the DVDs Ultimate Knockouts 1 against Kevin Randleman and Ultimate Knockouts 3 against Renato Sobral. But Liddell regards his best MMA knockouts of all time to have been in two other matches. "There was one in an IFC fight where I knocked a kid (Steve Heath) out with a kick to the head and he dropped straight forward. That was pretty sick. And the other was the Guy Mezger one that happened in PRIDE with the short, right hand." For Ultimate Knockouts 2, Chuck features as a co-commentator and does an outstanding job, providing valuable information for fight fans, and sharing a different view of the footage from the perspective of one of MMA’s greatest ever combatants.
Chuck, you obviously contributed a lot to the second DVD’s presentation. Would you consider becoming involved in that kind of work, later, when you retire? "Well, I don’t know about that. We’ll see. I’ll look into anything that can keep me in the sport when I’m ready to retire…Anything that can help the sport to progress, I want to do." What did you think about your state of California passing the vote to sanction the sport of Mixed Martial Arts there? "I think it’s long overdue. And it’s going to be nice to fight in my own state again." Is there anything you’d like to add, Chuck? "Not necessarily. Just watch the fight, man. It should be a really good fight." Sponsors? "Definitely Cobb 28, Tap Out, and Sinister Clothing. We’re working on a couple of other ones, but those are the ones that have sponsored me for a while." Liddell’s Fight Training: Courtesy of www.iceman.tv Chuck ideally begins to train for his fights
eight weeks prior to their scheduled occurrence. A typical week of
fight training encompasses the following training over a six-day
period: 1.) Striking: Chuck works on striking with punches, kicks,
knees, and elbows four times per week; 2) Wrestling: Chuck wrestles 3
times per week: 3.) Takedowns: Chuck works solely on
"takedowns" twice a week; 4.) Conditioning/Cardio: Chuck
conditions five times per week by running sprints; jogging; running
hills, stairs, or sand dunes; and swimming; 5.) Strength training:
Chuck performs a high repetition weight workout three times per week;
6.) Ju-jitsu: finally Chuck trains in Brazilian Ju-jitsu three times
per week. For more on Chuck Liddell and his merchandise – www.iceman.tv For more on UFC 52 – www.ufc.tv.
CHUCK LIDDELL Part 4
Sights Set on
Heavyweight Belt 
© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges Becoming UFC’s light-heavyweight champion has been Chuck Liddell’s lifetime dream. And holding the title is something Chuck is quite comfortable with. "It’s great being the light-heavyweight champion. I’ve been working for this my whole life. I was very disappointed the first time I took a shot at the title with Randy, because I knew I could beat him. But I had a bad fight. And to finally get it… Tito held it from me for a long time because he wouldn’t fight me before that, so it’s been a long time coming," says Liddell. But now that his fanciful vision has become a reality, the Iceman is busy weaving other dreams. "I’m at the point where I’m wondering who I’m going to fight next. We’re talking about even fighting Arlovski for the heavyweight title. If they give me a shot at the title, I’ll step up to heavyweight just to have both. I just want to be the first guy to hold both titles at the same time. It doesn’t look like they’re going to be able to get me Wanderlei Silva. I wanted to be the first one to have both UFC and PRIDE belts, but it doesn’t look as though PRIDE are going to give me a shot at it," says Liddell. "UFC are prepared to let me do it, but PRIDE aren’t. Maybe if I have the UFC light and heavyweight titles they’ll let me do it. I don’t know, but I’m going to try to convince them somehow. " When Chuck defeated Randy at UFC 52, there was more to the victory for Liddell than just the feeling of euphoria: It was also like having a weight lifted off his shoulders. "It was a pretty big thing for me because I didn’t want to be someone who should have been the champion at some time and then never actually got it. So the victory did lift the weight off my shoulders. Now I’m looking for a new challenge: either Wanderlei Silva from PRIDE or going up to heavyweight in UFC."
With Randy making his Octagon debut at UFC 13, and Chuck first appearing at UFC 17, it seems hard to believe there was a time when these two veterans weren’t competing in the world’s biggest MMA competition. And whenever either athlete is fighting, fans can’t help feeling they are witnessing an important era in NHB history. A lot had happened since Liddell and Couture first clashed on June 6, 2003, at Meltdown. Both men defeated Tito Ortiz, Chuck KO’d Vernon White, and Randy wiped Vitor Belfort. For Couture vs Liddell II, Chuck boldly stated he would not only reverse the original result, but that he would win by knockout. Their second meeting went pretty much as Liddell had predicted. "Everything went perfectly. My leg kicks were working well. I was hitting him with that jab. When he came in I hit him and turned the corner. The biggest thing we said when I was training was, ‘Hit him and turn the corner. Circle and don’t go back. If you go back he’ll throw one at you.’ So we worked on circling, and it went great."
Chuck, can you pinpoint the main difference between the first fight and the second one? "Well, conditioning was the biggest difference, but also since that first fight we went back and concentrated on a lot of things. We saw the last three fights were won by knockout, and we’d focused on the little things. In the long run, it was probably a good thing my losing to Randy before because it got me to stay on my game, and work on improving." It seems you and Randy have been there forever, and that you’re always lifting the standard of MMA. Do you feel that way? "Yeah. That’s what we’re trying to do: keep pushing it. And now I’m on top, if I want to stay there I’ve got to keep pushing and pushing. I’ve got to keep myself motivated." How did you feel in the Octagon when the fight actually got under way? "I was very comfortable, man. I was ready for the fight. I knew I could win it. And like I said, I was going to knock him out. I was going to knock him out sooner or later. I was going to knock him out in the third or fourth round, but the thing is, the time that knockouts happen the most is when you’re not looking for them. I knew I’d get him sooner or later, so I was just throwing my punches the way I should. And I wasn’t trying to load up and rip his head off. I was just being patient and feeling happy to be executing my game plan." Not feeling a need to rush it? "No. No urgency or need to knock him out in a hurry. I knew I was in great shape and I knew I could take him five rounds if I wanted to."
But how did you feel so confident after losing before? How do you get that confidence? "Well part of it was I knew what kind of shape I was in. And I went back…I hadn’t watched that fight because I hated seeing it. I watched it in January. It was the first time I’d ever seen that fight. I looked at it and I coached myself. I said, ‘You know what? That’s not me out there. I’m not fighting the way I fight.’ And after I saw that I was more confident after watching me lose that fight. I thought I did better than everyone gave me credit for. "But the way I was standing, I was so flat footed. I was dead tired three minutes into the fight. I knew there was no way that guy was going out there again the next time. And when I went out the next time, I was so confident. "Plus I don’t like it when everyone expects me to lose. Everyone, everyone loses sometime. I’ve got a great picture of after I dropped Randy, and everybody in the first couple of rows had their mouths open and they were looking like, ‘Oh, shit’. Vanilla Ice was the only one smiling. He’s a great guy. He was out of his chair with his arms up, and everyone else was just sitting there, looking like ‘Oh, shit.’ " Does it look like there’ll be a Liddell vs Couture III? "They’re talking about maybe January. We’re both going to have another fight and then maybe go after it then." You said before the interview that you were at a weigh-in. What’s that for? "For K-1 in Vegas. Scott Lighty is one of my main sparring partners, and I’m here for him." Chuck, I know you’ve got to get back in there. Thanks for your time. "No problem." Chuck Liddell’s sponsors: Cobb 28, Tap Out, and Sinister Clothing.
For more on Chuck: www.iceman.tv
CHUCK LIDDELL Part 5
"If I Have My Way,
I’ll Knock Him Out." 
© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges On August 20, 2005, Chuck Liddell will be putting his world light-heavyweight title on the line against Jeremy Horn at UFC 54: Boiling Point, in what many are tipping to be a very tough match. Liddell has never been a man to dodge an opponent, so not surprisingly, it was Chuck who brought this showdown about. "The UFC were looking around for who I was going to fight next, and I suggested Jeremy. I think he’s a great fighter and I don’t believe he’s been getting the exposure he should be getting. I don’t think he’s had the shots or had a break in a little while. Plus I’d like to avenge a loss (UFC 19: Young Guns) that I had several years ago," says Liddell. Chuck has been extremely busy in the past year, with his winning the UFC Light-Heavyweight Title over Randy Couture, and his coaching of half the competitors for The Ultimate Fighter series. And Liddell says he would consider coaching for a future event: "I had a good time doing it. I’d do it again if everything were right. I think Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes just got done filming the second one." While there were a number of "reality fighting" programs that went to air recently, The Ultimate Fighter shows were easily the most successful. And Chuck agrees these events are great vehicles for promoting his sport to the general public. "Yeah. More people get to see what we do. They let them know about the training, everything that goes into it, the personalities and stuff…" With the second series of The Ultimate Fighter being advertised for free-to-air TV on August 6, the general public is becoming more aware of the skills involved in being an MMA fighter. At the same time, they are also realising the limitations of just being a boxer or just practising one martial art. But Chuck believes UFC champions are not yet getting the recognition champion boxers receive. "Not quite. We’re definitely not getting paid as much. And I don’t know if we’re getting quite the recognition, but things are changing, and we are getting a lot more attention now." Meanwhile, Liddell is putting all his attention into defending his title on August 20. Chuck, will Jeremy Horn’s strategy be to take you down? "Yeah, I’m sure it will be. He’s going to try to take me to the ground and mix it up a little bit. But for the most part, he’s going to be happier on the ground than standing up." Are there any other old scores you’d like to settle besides this one? "Well, of course, Quinton Jackson. But the guy I’d really like to fight is Wanderlei Silva." Last time we spoke, you said you didn’t think PRIDE would let that happen. "I don’t see it, though I hope some day they’ll work it out. But they don’t want to let their fighter lose his title to a guy from the UFC." After you fight Jeremy Horn, will Randy Couture be your next fight? "Well it all depends on whether we both win these next two fights. But if we do, there’s a good chance, yeah - probably around January or February." How are you going to beat Jeremy? "If I have my way, I think it would make things interesting if I knocked him out. He’s had over 100 fights and he’s never been knocked out. And that’s what I want to do." Chuck, is there anything you’d like to add? "Check out the fight: It should be a good one." Your sponsors? "Xyience Sports Supplements, Cobb 28, Tap Out, and Sinister Clothing."
For more on Chuck Liddell - www.iceman.tv or www.icemanmma.com For more on UFC 54: Boiling Point - www.ufc.tv.
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