My favorite fights: Chuck and Tito 2

My favorite MMA fights: Chuck and Tito 2

 

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell  vs. "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz
for the UFC Light Heavyweight championship

Date of fight: December 30, 2006

Outcome: Liddell wins via TKO in the first round at 3:59

 

 

 

Chuck and Liddell and Tito Ortiz.  Two UFC fighters who helped bring mixed martial arts into pop culture,  two former UFC Light Heavyweight Champs, and perhaps one of the most well known rivalries in the UFC.

I was more of a fan of the story behind the match, rather than the match itself.

 

This would be the second time Liddell and Ortiz would step into the octagon against one another.  They previously met at UFC 47: It's On! where Liddell defeated Ortiz by knock out, 38 seconds into the second round.  There was much hype going into the fight, as negotiations to get the match official, had taken months.  

 

Almost two years after their first encounter, the rematch between the two saw Liddell utilize his take down defense against Ortiz's wrestling.  Although Oritiz was able to get him down once, Liddell's striking prevailed and the Iceman successfully defended his title.

Recently both Ortiz and Liddell were to be coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: Season 11, as well as a rematch, but Ortiz pulled out of the fight.  For the last episode of the Ultimate Fighter, he was replaced by Rich Franklin, who would go on to fight Liddell at UFC 115, and defeat him by knock-out in the first round, with a broken hand.

 

At this time, the event was said to be UFC's biggest pay per view, with just over 1 million buys, according to Jeremy Botter of the Houston Chronicle.