Tag: Chuck Liddell

Watch former UFC champs Chuck Liddell, Luke Rockhold in ‘Cagefighter: Worlds Collide’ trailer

Former UFC champions Chuck Liddell and Luke Rockhold will star in the upcoming “Cagefighter: Worlds Collide” movie.

Former UFC champions [autotag]Chuck Liddell[/autotag] and [autotag]Luke Rockhold[/autotag] will star in the upcoming “Cagefighter: Worlds Collide” movie.

The action movie details the journey of world champion MMA fighter Reis Gibbons (Alex Montagnani) who is eventually pitted against AEW wrestling superstar Randy Stone (Jon Moxley) for his sixth title defense in a story in which the worlds of MMA and pro wrestling collide.

Liddell and Rockhold play coaches for MMA champion Gibbons. The movie, which was filmed in Saskatchewan, Canada, is expected to release on May 16 on FITE TV.

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You can check out the trailer in the video above.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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Today in MMA history: Chuck Liddell knocks out Randy Couture, earns first UFC title

Fifteen years ago today, Chuck Liddell became UFC champion for the first time.

Fifteen years ago today, [autotag]Chuck Liddell[/autotag] became a UFC champion.

On April 16, 2005, Liddell won the UFC light heavyweight championship for the fight time. At MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Liddell headlined UFC 52 against then-titleholder [autotag]Randy Couture[/autotag]. The two fighters had just served as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 1.

Both men found success early, with Couture clipping some particularly solid shots on Liddell’s temple. The action was stopped, but only briefly, when Liddell’s thumb caught Couture in the eye. The fight resumed after the cage-side physician gave his stamp of approval.

Upon time-in, Liddell and Couture wildly exchanged. Liddell cranked Couture with a brutal straight right hand that sent the champion to the mat. From there, Liddell went for the kill. “The Iceman” pounced on his downed opponent and removed whatever consciousness was left inside Couture.

Not only did Liddell clinch the title at UFC 52, he avenged a loss suffered to Couture at UFC 43 in June 2003. In the first meeting, Couture finished Liddell with punches in Round 3.

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The two would complete the trilogy 10 months later at UFC 57 in February 2006. That night, it was Liddell topping Couture in the unofficial best-of-three series, knocking out “The Natural” in Round 2.

In the video above, relive Chuck Liddell’s title-earning knockout of Randy Couture at UFC 52.

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How would prime Chuck Liddell have fared vs. Jon Jones? ‘I would have given him trouble’

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell thinks he would have matched up well with Jon Jones if the champions met in their primes.

[autotag]Chuck Liddell[/autotag] has fought a who’s who during his MMA career, but there’s one particular fighter he wishes he’d had the chance to fight.

That man is none other than arguably the greatest fighter of all time, UFC light heavyweight champion, [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag], who Liddell thinks he would have matched up well with in his prime.

Answering questions on Twitter as part of a Q&A with @MMAHistoryToday,” Liddell said he would have liked his chances against Jones, considering his takedown defense, and the power he possesses in his hands.

“I think I would have matched up well with him, style wise,” Liddell tweeted. “I would have given him trouble because it would have been very hard to take me down, and I would have been landing some insane power punches during my prime. I also have a longer reach than my stats detail.”

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More than half of Liddell’s wins came by knockout, including an incredible seven-fight finishing stretch where he captured the UFC light heavyweight title with a knockout of Randy Couture in 2006, and defended it four times, including a TKO finish of arch-rival Tito Ortiz in their rematch.

Liddell was inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame in 2009, and is widely considered as not only one of the greatest fighters, but a man who played a pivotal role in the UFC’s growth and success in the early Zuffa years of the company.

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Today in MMA History: Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz kick off their legendary trilogy

Relive the first chapter of one of the most memorable rivalries in UFC history.

One of the signature trilogies in mixed martial arts history had its first chapter 16 years ago Thursday.

[autotag]Chuck Liddell[/autotag] and [autotag]Tito Ortiz[/autotag]’s names will forever be linked. Both competitors are in the UFC Hall of Fame. Both held the UFC light heavyweight title. Both were key in helping resurrect MMA in North America from near-death to one of the true cultural phenomenons of the ’00s.

On April 2, 2004, Liddell and Ortiz had the first of their three fights in the main event of UFC 47. A crowd of 11,437 paid a gate of $1.44M at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas to witness the bout.

This was a three-round, non-title fight. Ortiz had been accused of ducking Liddell during his reign as light heavyweight champion. In his previous fight, Ortiz lost his belt to Randy Couture, who was a color commentator at UFC 47.

While he didn’t get a title for his efforts, Liddell did get the satisfaction of a knockout win over his rival at the 0:38 mark of the second round. A year later, Liddell would finish Couture in the second fight of their trilogy to take the 205-pound title.

This set up a lucrative rematch between Liddell and Ortiz. With the duo coaching opposing teams on “The Ultimate Fighter 3” as the buildup, the duo squared off at UFC 66. The company set then-records for gate ($5,397,300) and pay-per-view buys (929,000) as this time Ortiz lasted until the fourth round before getting finished.

The series regrettably had a third chapter in 2018. Both fighters came out of retirement to headline Golden Boy Promotions’ first and, to date, only MMA show, with Ortiz scoring a knockout 4:24 into the opening round.

The first two fights, however, were indisputably electric, milestone nights in MMA history. And now, thanks to the UFC’s YouTube channel, you can relieve the fight that started it all by watching it in full above.

“Today in MMA History” is an MMA Junkie series created in association with MMA History Today, the social media outlet dedicated to reliving “a daily journey through our sport’s history.”

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