UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell II Preview
Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture
Apr 13, 2005
LIDDELL: Kickboxer Chuck Liddell was a collegiate
wrestler at Cal Poly, a former IFC light heavyweight champion and a
North American National kickboxing champion with a 16-3 record in
MMA. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt trains with John
Hackelman, Scott Adams,
Gan McGee and the rest of The
Pit Fight Team.
Liddell made his Octagon debut at UFC 17 against Noe Hernandez and took a unanimous decision over the boxer. His first major test came in Brazil at IVC 6 where he battled Jose Landi-Jons. “Pele” was already a hero in Brazil and had won numerous tournaments. To go half an hour with a legend in his own back yard showed Chuck was for real. He returned to UFC 19 and lost to Jeremy Horn by arm-triangle choke.
Chuck has remained committed to the UFC since 1999 and beat
Paul Jones and Jeff Monson before facing “The
Monster” Kevin Randleman
at UFC 31. A highly anticipated bout was finished in just over a
minute as Randleman hit the canvas early in the first round. He
traveled to PRIDE 14 in 2001 and scored a knockout over Guy Mezger. Chuck took a questionable
victory over former UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante at UFC 33
and battled a tough but undersized Amar Suloev by decision at UFC
35.
A title contender’s bout with Vitor Belfort opened the door to fight Ortiz but Chuck took a risky bout with Renato Sobral in the interim and won by knockout. The Ortiz issue remained unresolved and Liddell would face Randy Couture. No one thought Couture would out-strike the kickboxer, but he did and he pounded Chuck for three rounds.
COUTURE: Greco Roman Wrestler Randy Couture is a three-time Olympic Team alternate ('88,'92 and '96), a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials, a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I All-American, a two-time NCAA finalist, a three-time national Greco-Roman champion and the holder of numerous other military and national wrestling titles. “The Natural” is also a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion and the former and current UFC light heavyweight champion with a 13-6 record in MMA.
Couture trains with Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, Nathan Quarry, Chael Sonnen and members of Team Quest. Randy was wrestling in Puerto Rico when he got the call there was a slot open in the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament. He took it and won the tournament. He returned to UFC 15 to dispose of the “Phenom” Vitor Belfort and punished the heavily favored Brazilian.
Couture traveled to Japan and captured the heavyweight title from Maurice Smith but was stripped by SEG for not taking a pay cut to defend his belt. Couture continued to fight in Japan but lost two consecutive bouts to fighters with more submission-oriented backgrounds: Enson Inoue and Mikhail Illoukhine.
His next stop was the 2000 RINGS King of Kings tournament; training partner Henderson had won the tournament the year before. There Couture beat both UFC veterans Jeremy Horn and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka and Pancrase fighter Ryushi Yanagisawa but lost to another submission expert, Valentijn Overeem, in the semifinals. Randy came back at UFC 28 to beat Kevin Randleman and has fought consistently for the organization since that time.
Couture defended his title twice against Pedro Rizzo but lost to, you guessed it, a submission fighter. Josh Barnett took the title but was stripped due to steroid use and Randy could not reclaim the belt from Ricco Rodriguez. He moved down to light heavyweight and punished Chuck Liddell, stopping him in the third round at UFC 43. He beat Tito Ortiz for the title at UFC 44 but “lost” it to Vitor Belfort on a controversial cut stoppage at UFC 46. Randy got his rematch with Vitor at UFC 49 and pounded a bloody Vitor with strikes for three rounds until the Brazilian could no longer continue.
MY PICK: I don’t know if it is the TUF show rubbing off on me or what but I think Chuck wins this one. Both men have shown what they’re made of on numerous occasions but Chuck is due. I almost hope Randy loses for the sole purpose of meeting Wanderlei Silva in Japan before he retires.
Something tells me it will be easier to sign the match if Randy is without the title at the time. It could also lead to a long-awaited Liddell-Silva bout down the road. So how does it happen? With strikes. Chuck may see an opening in the third round and land a roundhouse to the head to shake the champ. The cards are stacked against him and Captain America may still take this one but I’m pulling for Chuck.
Liddell made his Octagon debut at UFC 17 against Noe Hernandez and took a unanimous decision over the boxer. His first major test came in Brazil at IVC 6 where he battled Jose Landi-Jons. “Pele” was already a hero in Brazil and had won numerous tournaments. To go half an hour with a legend in his own back yard showed Chuck was for real. He returned to UFC 19 and lost to Jeremy Horn by arm-triangle choke.
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A title contender’s bout with Vitor Belfort opened the door to fight Ortiz but Chuck took a risky bout with Renato Sobral in the interim and won by knockout. The Ortiz issue remained unresolved and Liddell would face Randy Couture. No one thought Couture would out-strike the kickboxer, but he did and he pounded Chuck for three rounds.
Another trip to PRIDE in 2003 saw Liddell knock out Alistair Overeem in the PRIDE Total
Elimination middleweight tournament but Chuck was stopped by
American wrestler Quinton
Jackson with strikes in the semifinals of that event. Liddell
finally met Tito Ortiz and
put all the questions to rest. He knocked out Tito and it set up a
rematch for the title. But not content to sit and wait for his
shot, Liddell ended another rivalry and knocked out Lion’s Den
fighter Vernon White at UFC
49.
COUTURE: Greco Roman Wrestler Randy Couture is a three-time Olympic Team alternate ('88,'92 and '96), a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials, a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I All-American, a two-time NCAA finalist, a three-time national Greco-Roman champion and the holder of numerous other military and national wrestling titles. “The Natural” is also a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion and the former and current UFC light heavyweight champion with a 13-6 record in MMA.
Couture trains with Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, Nathan Quarry, Chael Sonnen and members of Team Quest. Randy was wrestling in Puerto Rico when he got the call there was a slot open in the UFC 13 heavyweight tournament. He took it and won the tournament. He returned to UFC 15 to dispose of the “Phenom” Vitor Belfort and punished the heavily favored Brazilian.
Couture traveled to Japan and captured the heavyweight title from Maurice Smith but was stripped by SEG for not taking a pay cut to defend his belt. Couture continued to fight in Japan but lost two consecutive bouts to fighters with more submission-oriented backgrounds: Enson Inoue and Mikhail Illoukhine.
His next stop was the 2000 RINGS King of Kings tournament; training partner Henderson had won the tournament the year before. There Couture beat both UFC veterans Jeremy Horn and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka and Pancrase fighter Ryushi Yanagisawa but lost to another submission expert, Valentijn Overeem, in the semifinals. Randy came back at UFC 28 to beat Kevin Randleman and has fought consistently for the organization since that time.
Couture defended his title twice against Pedro Rizzo but lost to, you guessed it, a submission fighter. Josh Barnett took the title but was stripped due to steroid use and Randy could not reclaim the belt from Ricco Rodriguez. He moved down to light heavyweight and punished Chuck Liddell, stopping him in the third round at UFC 43. He beat Tito Ortiz for the title at UFC 44 but “lost” it to Vitor Belfort on a controversial cut stoppage at UFC 46. Randy got his rematch with Vitor at UFC 49 and pounded a bloody Vitor with strikes for three rounds until the Brazilian could no longer continue.
MY PICK: I don’t know if it is the TUF show rubbing off on me or what but I think Chuck wins this one. Both men have shown what they’re made of on numerous occasions but Chuck is due. I almost hope Randy loses for the sole purpose of meeting Wanderlei Silva in Japan before he retires.
Something tells me it will be easier to sign the match if Randy is without the title at the time. It could also lead to a long-awaited Liddell-Silva bout down the road. So how does it happen? With strikes. Chuck may see an opening in the third round and land a roundhouse to the head to shake the champ. The cards are stacked against him and Captain America may still take this one but I’m pulling for Chuck.
