Upsets are in vogue in the UFC these days but, not surprisingly, light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell doesn't see the trend continuing when he takes on Quinton (Rampage) Jackson at UFC 71 on May 26 in Las Vegas.
In the UFC's three most recent cards, Randy Couture toppled heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (UFC 68), Matt Serra took the welterweight title from Montreal's Georges St. Pierre (UFC 69) and Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga knocked out Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic (UFC 70).
Will normal service resume when The Iceman faces off against Jackson at the MGM Grand?
"I've been getting that question a lot," Liddell told The Canadian Press in a recent interview from Los Angeles.
"I don't think they're connected at all," he said of the recent upsets. "Different fights."
"You could say maybe if (the same) camp lost three UFC fights in a row, maybe something's changed with the training. I'm not superstitious or anything, so I don't think there's anything to do with a trend of upsets."
While Liddell acknowledges Jackson is a "tough guy," he sees this fight as business as usual.
"Definitely. I'm planning on going out there and knocking him out," said Liddell.
Jackson beat Liddell on a Pride Fighting Championships card at the Tokyo Dome in November 2003, one of only three career losses for Liddell and the only one the Iceman has still to avenge (he has already beaten Couture and Jeremy Horn).
"I probably should have beat him then and I know I can beat him now," Liddell said. "I can't wait."
BetUs.com had Liddell at minus-260, meaning you'd have to put $260 down to win $100 in profit. Jackson was plus-200, meaning a $100 bet would make $200 profit.
The first fight makes for ugly watching for Liddell. Jackson punished Liddell with overhand rights in the first round, wobbling him at one stage, and took him down in the corner.
In the second round, Jackson had Liddell backpedalling and then on the ground. He held the Iceman down and delivered more than 40 blows with fists, arms and knees before the fight was stopped.
Even UFC president Dana White, watching the fight ringside as part of the commentary team, called it an "awesome" performance by Jackson.
Liddell says his training regimen changed for that fight and was not up to par.
"It just didn't work out for me. I don't think I was in as good as shape as I should have been. There was a lot of problems at the time."
Liddell, 37, is 20-3 and has won his last seven fights since losing to Jackson. His most recent outing was a high-profile December win over Tito Ortiz at UFC 66.
Jackson, 28, is 26-6 and coming off a KO of Marvin (The Beastman) Eastman at UFC 67 in February in his UFC debut.
"I thought he was a little cautious in it, but he handled Eastman pretty well," said Liddell.
Jackson is a brute with good striking ability who was known in Pride for slamming opponents to the canvas. Often that impact dazed the opponents, allowing Jackson to take side control and use his knees to devastating effect.
At Pride's Critical Countdown 2004, Ricardo Arona was on his back attempting a submission hold on Jackson who was above him. Jackson stood up, swung Arona up over his head like a child and then slammed him into the canvas like a rag doll.
His UFC opponents will be saved some of those knees since, unlike Pride, the UFC doesn't allow knees to the head of a grounded opponent. But Jackson's knees are still dangerous - especially in the clinch.
Jackson sent Kevin Randleman to la-la land with a knee to the head in 2003, before hammering his head in the mount position.
Jackson is also dangerous when he takes his opponent to the ground, finding ways to find room while in the other fighter's guard to rear up and deliver punishing blows. Just ask Igor Vovchanchyn, who was stopped clutching his ribs after a body slam and body blow in 2002.
Jackson is a predator in the ring, constantly moving forward. Liddell believes that's good for him.
"I think it's a great matchup for me. I like guys that come at me."
That's because Liddell is good at picking his shots, able to punch from all angles.
Liddell reckons the fight will be a standup affair. "Even if he wants to, I don't think it hits the ground." And that should make for an entertaining fight "for as long as he's able to stand there," Liddell adds.
While Liddell is the reigning rock star of MMA, Jackson has the goods in and out of the cage to win plenty of his own fans.
He's a charismatic quote machine, with a sense of humour.
Jackson left Pride for the now-defunct World Fighting Alliance, where he fought just once - defeating Matt Lindland last July - before joining the UFC.
After beating Eastman, Jackson said he wanted one more fight before the Liddell rematch. But the UFC, needing a main event for May, thought differently.
In March, Liddell turned heads when he appeared to fall asleep during an appearance on "Good Morning Texas" while publicizing the film 300.
Liddell's camp attributed the problem to illness and fatigue from a punishing schedule that took him from Tampa, New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Columbus, Los Angeles and New York again in two weeks.
"I ended up with bad pneumonia," Liddell said. "I'd never been in bed for eight days in a row. . . . Part of it is I have a bad habit of agreeing to do things. I agree to do things when it's a long ways out and then it comes down to it and I don't realize I've agreed to do something almost every day (for) a month and half after my fight. So there's no real relax time or down time."
This time, all he has planned after the Jackson fight is a holiday in Hawaii with his girlfriend and a few days on a cruise with some of his buddies.
Liddell has no plans to quit.
And why would he? Each payday gets better. And each win extends the legacy of The Iceman.
1 Comment:
Iceman should murder him. He lost to Rampage in 2003, before unleashing a reign of terror on the UFC only seen by the likes of Matt Hughes. He's better than he's ever been.
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