The MMA Top 10 06.11.10: Week 24 - The Top 10 Best Chuck Liddell Fights Of All-Time

Posted by Dustin James on 06.11.2010

From his wars with Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz to his awesome battles with Wanderlei Silva and "Babalu" Sobral, 411's Dustin James ranks the top 10 best Chuck Liddell fights of all-time! Check out the full article to see which fights made the list and why!

Welcome back to the MMA Top 10. As you should be accustomed to by now, I'm your host Dustin James and I'm personally pumped to see UFC 115 this weekend! I have been waiting along time to see Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz Rich Franklin. Back when Franklin was dominating the UFC's middleweight division and Liddell was UFC light heavyweight champion, I actually wanted to see these two fight. While I never actually thought we would see it, lo and behold here we are a few years later and the fight is the main event of a UFC PPV. Funny how things work out isn't it? Perhaps in six years we will get to see a worn down and old Anderson Silva face a "shell of his old self" GSP. Who wouldn't be excited to see that one?

As for this week's list, we all know UFC 115 is this weekend (as I mentioned previously) and this could be the last time we ever see Chuck Liddell fight. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those guys who thinks Liddell needs to hang them up (if he thinks he can fight, who are WE to say he shouldn't?), but I have a feeling in my gut that if Franklin manages to KO Chuck....this will be the last time we ever see Liddell in the Octagon. While Chuck would probably want to fight again in the future, I just doubt Dana White would allow his "BFF" to potentially get knocked out AGAIN. With that said, I decided to rank the top 10 best Chuck Liddell fights this week mainly due to the fact that it could be the last time we ever see him. While I'm personally picking Liddell to win this fight, there's always a great chance he could lose.

Liddell is a UFC hall-of-famer already and he's looking to continue his legacy with a huge win over former UFC middleweight champion Franklin. The following list reflects my personal top 10 favorite Chuck Liddell fights of all-time. Before I move onto the list, I would like to give a special shout-out to 411's own Jeremy Lambert. I asked Lambert for his help on this week's list due to the fact that he's a massive Liddell fan. Lambert is one of the smartest guys I know in the MMA world, and you people need to show him some RESPECT!

And with that......


LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......................

---

10) Chuck Liddell vs. Kenneth Williams
Neutral Grounds 11
March 31, 1999



If you have never seen Chuck Liddell grapple before, then watch this fight. It truly is amazing watching a fight where Liddell is actually using more grappling than striking. Hell, Liddell actually uses a little bit of everything to destroy Williams. If he's not punching the dude in the face, he's kneeing him in the body in the clinch. The fight actually ends when Liddell gets Williams back and proceeds to choke him out with a STANDING REAR NAKED CHOKE! For those of you who didn't know that Liddell was capable of pulling off a submission, this fight proves you wrong! It was Liddell's one submission win in his career so how could I leave this fight off the list?


And here's the fight for you to view. It's the second fight on the video and the camera work is crappy, so consider yourself warned....

---

9) Chuck Liddell vs. Guy Mezger
PRIDE 14
May 27, 2001



Ahh, who doesn't remember Chuck's short (but memorable) run in PRIDE? The guy didn't fight in PRIDE all that much, but when he did compete, he made sure the Japanese fans remembered who the hell he was. His fight against fellow UFC veteran Guy Mezger at PRIDE 14 was a true classic. After a hellacious first round, the two came out to continue the show for the second round. The only problem is, Liddell had MURDER on his mind this time. Liddell came out like a man possessed and floored Mezger with an impressive KO following five to six straight right hooks. Mezger didn't go down lightly either. Oh no. The man dropped to the ground with his leg bent in a way that resembled Mirko Cro Cop's leg following that crazy Gabriel Gonzaga head kick a few years back. While Mezger and Liddell may both be legends in the MMA world, Liddell was able to come out the better man following this fight.


If you wanna see Guy Mezger get KTFO, then just watch this.........

---

8) Chuck Liddell vs. Vitor Belfort
UFC 37.5
June 22, 2002


Man, how these men's careers have changed since they fought almost 8 years ago. Liddell is inching ever so closer to retirement, while Belfort seems to be at the peak of his career and is one of the top contenders to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. But back in 2002, both men were widely considered two of the top dogs in the UFC and the whole world couldn't wait to see them lock horns. Well, needless to say, the two didn't disappoint. Both men came in preparing for war, and that's exactly what they got. What we got was a three-round war which featured A LOT of heavy stand-up (including an awesome Chuck Liddell roundhouse kick) as well as some nice takedowns from Mr. Belfort himself. At one point, Liddell even dropped Belfort and looked to have him finished off, but Belfort managed to survive. This fight was truly an epic war between two future UFC hall-of-famers. Hell, if both men aren't doing anything in a year's time...I personally wouldn't mind seeing a rematch.


Here are some of the highlights from the Belfort/Liddell war, and yes, the camera work is crappy.....

---

7) Chuck Liddell vs. Alistair Overeem
PRIDE: Total Elimination 2003
August 10, 2003


Alistair Overeem is one of the most dangerous fighters in the heavyweight division in MMA. However, there was a time when Overeem competed mainly as a light heavyweight in the MMA world, and the man seemingly struggled against his smaller competition. Case in point, his fight with Liddell. Overeem is one bad dude on his feet. Perhaps Liddell knew that because Liddell shot in for a takedown (you don't see that often) and then held Overeem in a downed position and proceeded to knee the ever loving crap out of his head. Once Overeem finally managed to get himself out of that position, he took it to Chuck on the feet. Chuck was seemingly at a disadvantage on the feet against Overeem thanks to Alistair's crazy reach and incredible kickboxing skills. In the end though, none of that mattered as Chuck nailed Overeem with some BOMBS that put Alistair down hard! Chuck was like an animal. As soon as he saw that Overeem was wounded, he pounded him until he made sure the man was unconscious. That's one thing I think Chuck lacks today. That killer instinct he had when he was younger and more focused was just crazy. I'm not sure if we see that anymore in him. Either way, I absolutely loved this fight as I loved seeing Chuck kick ass over in Japan.


Can Fedor do this to Overeem?......

---

6) Chuck Liddell vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral II
UFC 62
August 26, 2006



When Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Chuck Liddell first fought at UFC 40, it was a highly anticipated fight that ended perhaps a little quickly. I mean, Liddell did manage to knock Sobral's head off with an awesome head kick. I'm pretty sure some fans in the front row went home with pieces of Sobral's skull that came flying out of his ears after that head kick. Well, you would think that Sobral would want no piece of Liddell again, right? WRONG! Fours year later, Sobral was now the #1 contender to Liddell's UFC light heavyweight title. Would "Babalu" fare better against Liddell this time then he did the first time? The answer is.....NO! If anything, he actually did worse. Once Sobral made the first move towards Chuck, Liddell was on him like white on rice. It was one of the worst (and "worst" is meant in a good way here) beatings I had ever seen. It was like Sobral had murdered Liddell's family and Chuck was looking for some payback. Truly a glorious moment to be a Liddell fan!


You can watch the entire fight here. But if you don't want to click that then I guess you can watch Liddell's greatest KO's.....

---

5) Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture III
UFC 57
February 4, 2006



It was one of the greatest trilogies in MMA history. It featured two legends named Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell and Randy "The Natural" Couture and their feud is legendary. While the two fought each other three times, they had a mutual respect for one another and therefore didn't dislike each other. With that said, the fights that these two put on were something else. I especially hold this one close to my heart as UFC 57 was the PPV that STARTED IT ALL for me. It was the first UFC PPV I had watched live in years and I haven't missed one since. This was actually the fight that really made me start disliking Liddell for sometime. You see, I was a huge Randy Couture fan which is why I was watching this PPV live in the first place. Let's just say that after a good first round of brawling, I was feeling all right about Couture's chances. Then came the second round. Just a little over a minute into the round, Liddell KO's Couture into early retirement. It was a sad day for Couture fans, but a great day for Liddell and his fans. Liddell managed to win the rubber match between him and "The Natural" and things were looking for Liddell and the UFC....


You can see the actual fight here. But if you don't wish to click that, then I suppose you can see the KO right here.....

---

4) Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz I
UFC 47
April 2, 2004


Some people who are new to the world of MMA may have been unaware of the "Chuck Liddell/Tito Ortiz feud" before this season of The Ultimate Fighter. The truth is, the two have been hated rivals for years now. Back when Ortiz was UFC light heavyweight champion, he had refused to give his former training partner a shot at the title even though Liddell was one of the top contenders. Needless to say, the two eventually fought and Liddell got a piece of revenge on Ortiz. After a decent first round of action (which included some Ortiz taunting and some after the bell shenanigans), Liddell came out like a man possessed and exploded onto Ortiz with some FISTS OF FURY~! After the fight was over, Ortiz complained that Liddell had poked him in the eye, but we all know it wouldn't be a Tito Ortiz loss without some kind of an excuse. The good news is, Liddell would get a rematch years later, but we will talk about that in a bit....or will we?


You can see the entire fight here, but here's a small clip for those of you with A.D.D......

---

3) Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz II
UFC 66
December 30, 2006



This fight is widely remembered in history due to it's massive buy rate and the money it had drawn in for the UFC. To this day, UFC 66 remains one of the all-time money making events for the UFC and that is no doubt thanks to this highly anticipated rematch between enemies Liddell and Ortiz. The first round was pretty much a feeling out process for both fighters. That was until we had about a minute left in the round. That's when Liddell put Ortiz down and proceeded to try and smash Ortiz's face into mush. The ref was about to call it, but Ortiz managed to escape a close one but came out a little bloody. The second round pretty much went down the same way as the first, except this time Ortiz looked more comfortable in the stand-up game and even managed a take down on Liddell. The fight was pretty even going into the third round in the eyes of myself and Eddie Bravo. In the beginning of the third round, Ortiz tried a take down again, but this time Liddell's sprawl was working overtime and Liddell managed to take a few good shots at Ortiz after the failed take down. That wasn't the only time that would happen though. With about three minutes left in the fight, Ortiz tried another take down and was unsuccessful again and once again Liddell managed to capitalize on Ortiz's mistake. Then, with about a minute and a half left in the fight, Liddell hit RAMPAGE mode as he went nutso all over Ortiz and got the stoppage with about a minute left in the third round. It really was a great fight and as I mentioned, one of the events that really helped put the UFC into the mainstream mode it's in now.


You can watch the entire fight here, but if you have already seen it then why don't you just watch a clip of Liddell on ENTOURAGE! GET HIM DRAMA~!!!.....

---

2) Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture II
UFC 52
April 16, 2005



I have already discussed the fact that the Liddell/Couture trilogy may be the best trilogy in MMA history, and their second fight is a big reason why. Now, as a Randy Couture fan...I'm not personally the biggest fan of this fight. However, this is a CHUCK LIDDELL list, and anytime you can defeat someone like Randy Couture in about two minutes then that has to be classified as one of your best fights ever and that's exactly what happened here. After losing the first fight to Couture after a third-round TKO from "The Natural", Liddell was looking to exact some revenge on his rival. After about a minute and a half of feeling each other out, Couture finally went in for some action. After a brief scuffle, Couture ended up with a finger in the eye from Liddell. That's when "Big" John McCarthy decided to stop the fight for a bit. Once Couture was able to go again, it sure as hell didn't take Liddell very long to capitalize on taking Randy down. Just about 15 seconds after "Big" John restarted the fight, Liddell took Couture's head off with a solid shot that put "The Natural" down for the count. Needless to say, Liddell was ecstatic as he was able to avenge that first loss to Randy. I don't care who you are, but if you can manage to defeat someone like Randy Couture in the first round, then that's a pretty damn good achievement if I may say so myself. Liddell looked amazing here as he was definitely in the peak of his career at this time.....



You can see the entire fight here, but if don't want to watch that then I suppose you can watch this amazingly HILARIOUS VIDEO of the love between Liddell and Dana White.....

---

1) Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
UFC 79
December 29, 2007



It's not very often that a "dream MMA fight" will live up to expectations. For years, MMA fans everywhere had wanted to see a "dream fight" between the UFC's Chuck Liddell and PRIDE's Wanderlei Silva. Once the UFC came in and purchased PRIDE, everyone was sure that Dana White and company were FINALLY going to give us that dream fight! Well, at UFC 79 in 2007...it finally happened. What we saw when the fight finally went down was a thing of beauty. We saw two of the best strikers in the UFC's light heavyweight division stand-up with each other for fifteen minutes and pound the shit out of each other's faces. Perhaps the only bad thing about this fight was the fact that I had a chance to see the son of a bitch LIVE in person, but due to unfortunate circumstances I was forced to suspend my trip to Vegas and man oh man, once I saw this fight on PPV...I quickly regretted that decision. Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell are easily two of my favorite UFC fighters to watch and I don't know about you guys, but I'm definitely down to see a rematch between these two MMA legends. While Chuck was able to squeeze out a unanimous-decision victory, something tells me that the two would probably split a "best of 10 series" if that ever happened. It's just the truth......


And the last video I will post just happens to be RAMPAGE'S hilarious imitation of Chuck Liddell......

---

And that's it for me this week. Make sure you follow me on Twitter for all sorts of good MMA, NBA, NFL, and other random crap talk. Trust me, I won't let you down.


All of 411's zones are also on Twitter, so make sure you check it out.....



http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma
http://www.twitter.com/411boxing