Sherdog’s Top 10: UFC Light Heavyweight Title Fights

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10. Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson
UFC 71
May 26, 2007
Jackson whipped Liddell under the Pride Fighting Championships banner in 2003, but this was a different “Iceman.” Liddell had laid waste to everybody in sight, and there seemed to be no slowing him down. He had rattled off seven straight victories, all by knockout, captured the UFC’s light heavyweight crown and was focused on exacting revenge on those who had defeated him in the past. Liddell knocked out Jeremy Horn and Randy Couture, the only other men to score wins over him; and he walloped Renato Sobral and Tito Ortiz in rematches for good measure. “Rampage” was expected by most to become the next victim in the UFC 71 main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Jackson was on a nice winning streak of his own but had largely been feasting on mediocre competition, and recent victories against Matt Lindland and Marvin Eastman did little to inspire the masses. Plus, he had already been torn to shreds by Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua in Pride. Still, the rematch did not go according to plan for Liddell. “Rampage” avoided a left hook to the body and quickly countered with a monstrous right to the jaw, instantly wrecking Liddell’s equilibrium. Liddell collapsed to his back, and when he tried to recover, Jackson met him with brutal elbows and hammerfists until referee John McCarthy called for the stoppage. The longest light heavyweight championship reign at that point came to a violent end in the first round, as Jackson claimed the 205-pound crown. Liddell was never the same and closed his career winning just once in his final five tries.

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