Greatest Victory Series: Chuck Liddell

[jmt225]

Okay, so Guy and I discussed a new thread series for the MMA Section, and what we came up with was a "Greatest Victory" series. It's simple... we pick a legend in the sport, who has a ton a big wins under his belt, and we ask you... which one was his greatest victory of them all? Basically, which is the most impressive and which win will the fighter be most remembered for by at the end of his career?

So, with that... we start the series with none other than Chuck Liddell.

Click here to view Chuck Liddell's complete MMA Record.

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In my opinion, there was only one time when Chuck Liddell was a true underdog during his prime, and that was in his first fight against Tito Ortiz, which is my choice for his biggest win.

Sure, it wasn't a title fight, but it was still a #1 Contender fight to get a shot at the then Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture, and while it's hard to believe today... Chuck Liddell was the heavy underdog coming into this one.

Back in the day the UFC would interview all the celebs in the audience and ask them who they thought would win the main event... and it was nearly unanimous amongst them that Tito Ortiz was going to beat Chuck Liddell.

Not only did Chuck get completely dominated by Randy Couture 7 months before this fight, but he was also coming off a knockout loss to Rampage Jackson in PRIDE. Everyone thought Chuck Liddell had been exposed and that Tito was going to be the one to put the final nail in the coffin to his hype.

But oh boy... did Liddell prove everyone wrong. Chuck came into this fight in the best shape of his career, and he beat the ever living tar out of Tito. I mean, Tito didn't land a single punch basically. He went for a couple of takedowns, and Chuck snubbed them like they were nothing. He blew everyone away in that fight.

And of course, it was this win that would get Chuck Liddell his title shot against Randy Couture, which started arguably the most dominate reign in the UFC's Light Heavyweight Division's history. It all started with that victory against Tito Ortiz.

What do you think? Is his Title win against Couture greater since he actually won the belt in that fight and avenged a loss? Or his the Wanderlei fight your answer? Or do you go back to the early days of his career and choose something like his fight against Vitor Belfort? Let me hear it..

 

[Rizza]

Dude, great thread man, I was going to rep you for it, but I have to spread, so I will get back to you.

IMO, which I think people, might disagree with me on this, Chucks greatest win, is his decision win over Wanderlei Silva. Even though at this point they were both past their primes, and neither one of them was sporting the belt the held for so long, there were a few things that just made this fight his greatest in my opinion.

First, its all about the history if this fight. I know that the Ortiz fights, and the Couture fights had bad blood and epic back stories, such as Tito and Chuck starting out as friends, claiming they wouldn't fight each other then, Liddell was top dog and Ortiz still wouldn't give Chuck the shot, claiming he wanted more money to fight a friend, when Liddell was claiming he was scared. Then when he finally got his shot he stopped Tito in the second.

The ole' Couture tale everyone knows about, Couture was too old and pretty much done, Chuck didn't take him seriously and paid for it, then a bunch of ass kickings followed, and Chuck showed the world that he was still the man, and that he could beat Captain America. I think this would be a good choice for greatest victory ever because it did start the title reign of doom but ultimately I think it comes down to Wandy.

With Wandy, these to guys were supposed to scrap for years, thats all anyone who was anyone could talk about. The beast from the East comes over to battle the best in the West. Japans best vs USA's best. At one point these guys were breaking necks left and right only solidifying our dream of what a brawl they could have.

Then came UFC 79. By this time though the legacy of the unstoppable Liddell was gone, as was the Aura that surrounded Wandy. No body told them that though. Those two dudes when out there and showed the world the fight we have been waiting to see. We wanted to see PRIDES MW champ, and UFC LHW champ slug it out for the longest, and the time had actually come.

They gave it everything they had for three rounds. No belt, no contender ship fight, a fight for good ole fights sake, to see who was the best out if these two. The back story was great, the staredown was epic, the fight more then delivered, and gave us a epic moment in MMA history that will never be forgotten. Chuck beating the man he was supposed to fight for years and picking up his last victory in doing so to me will always be remembered as Chucks best victory.

BTW: JMT, these thread are a great idea man, I wouldn't be able to request a fighter would I? I would love to see one of these threads about Nog. Babalu too.

 

[Fizzy]

I'd have to say his second fight with Randy. Randy completely dominated Chuck in their first fight, and I saw nothing different coming during the second fight. I expected Randy to go in, pick him apart on the feet, and use his wrestling to finish. I didn't really think Chuck had what it took to beat Randy this time around. Holy shit he proved me wrong. I am a huge fan of both these guys, but I am a much bigger fan of Randy, and I honestly believed he would dominate Chuck again. When Chuck knocked him out, and won the LHW title it really made me become a bigger fan of Chuck, and he really impressed me. So I think that is Chuck's biggest win in his career.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Im going to have to also go with, Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck Liddell, for the shear fact of how anticipated this was from a personal standpoint. They were both a bit past their prime, but man this fight was the definition of a slugfest. Almost every UFC highlight reel has like a little clip of this fight to showcase how awesome the UFC is. Chuck Liddell out of his illustrious career, this has to be his best fight. Towards the end i didn't even care who won thats how good it was. For their to be no conterdership or title on the line and for these guys to fight the way they did, i have the utmost respect for both guys. Pride alone is what drove these guys, and to me it was Chuck's most memorable best win.

 

[INDYjon22]

I feel like Chuck's biggest victory had to be against Randy Couture, in the second fight. Chuck got beat up in his first fight with Couture and a lot of people were counting him out. The fact that he went into the rematch and totally dominated Couture is a huge deal. It really marked the beginning of the Iceman's reign of terror in the UFC. His fights against Tito, Wandy, and Rampage are legendary as well but his win against Couture led to one of the biggest and most important title reigns in MMA. It also established Chuck as the biggest name in the entire sport in the early days and gave the UFC a poster boy to market around.

 

[Window Licker 101]

Definitely the first fight with Ortiz. Like you said everyone had Tito winning this fight but a sick combination of punches,uppercuts and body shots in the corner finished him off. Prior to this fight Tito was acting like a cock. At the weigh-ins he flinched in Chucks direction to intimadate the iceman but Chuck is one cool character and responded by flipping the bird behind Ortiz's back. Then in the fight itself at the end of round one Tito shoved the referee into Liddell. In an interview Liddell conducted he stated that made him even more agressive and mad and responded by knocking him out.

Second biggest win would definitely be the second fight agasint Couture just for the fact he was so badly dominated in the first fight and he managed to turn things around in the second bout and Knock him out to win the title.