LAS VEGAS, April 16 —Twenty-two months ago when Chuck Liddell stood in front of Randy Couture, a then 39-year-old fighter coming off two tough losses who many regarded as simply a stepping-stone to the belt Liddell coveted, the San Luis Obispo, Calif. native learned a valuable lesson: having something in your grasp does not always mean it’s yours to keep.
Two minutes, six seconds.
Time truly is relative — the frustration that came with years of waiting for Ortiz to accept a fight; the months of heartbreak following the loss to Couture; the hardship which comes with countless hours in the gym, preparing for a championship that hadn’t come.
Gone, all of it, in two minutes, six seconds.
From the start of the fight, this seemed like a different Couture, now 41, than the one who so effectively dominated Liddell in June ’03. Understanding that the bout only lasted two minutes, Couture seemed a step slower in nearly ever facet of his game. He appeared unable to beat Liddell to the punch the way he did the first time they fought and incapable of closing the distance necessary to work his world-class takedown game.
And the times that Couture landed a shot, Liddell countered or moved. “I think a lot of it had to do with game plan stuff we learned from the first fight,” said Liddell at the post-fight press conference. “John [Hackleman] had me move. We kept moving. … I think anytime I get flat-footed then I think I was risking getting taken down. So, if you noticed I was moving side-to-side and forward.”
Before the fight Couture’s trainer Robert Follis spoke of his philosophy of controlled-aggression. “To me you’ve got to be aggressive enough in a fight to bring that guy into your game plan,” Follis said. “But not so aggressive that you come out of your game plan.”
Couture, it seemed, stepped over the line of control into dangerous territory, which led to the only two-division champion in UFC history lunging at his challenger. An off-balance hook from the Gresham, Oregon-based fighter gave Liddell the perfect angle to fire a right cross, and “The Iceman” swiftly countered, dropping the compact shot that caused Couture to lose his legs.
“I was able to catch him on his chin,” said the new 205-pound UFC King. “There aren’t too many people who can stand after that.”
As Couture, whose record stands a misleading 13-7-0, fell to the canvas, the crowd — equal parts stunned, terrified and out-of-its-mind — rose to its feet. Liddell dropped two unnecessary shots to the downed champion before referee John McCarthy could step in.
“If you fight in this sport long enough,” said Couture in the ring, “that’s bound to happen.
Visually, an unconscious Couture was disturbing, a picture no one wanted to see but everyone knew was possible. Juxtaposed against the jubilance of Liddell and his camp, it quickly hit home that this is a sport of men and things like this happen — even to the best.
“I’ve been waiting [to win the title] my whole career,” Liddell said. “Randy is a great champion and a great guy.”
Whether it was, as pundits will surely ask, Couture’s mileage or the fact that a healthy Liddell, now 15-3-0, was “on,” the new light heavyweight champion strung punches together with an accuracy that comes when he’s at his most dangerous.
Tonight he was.
In the evening’s other title bout, UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes (39-4-0) summoned his reserves, coming back from an accidental knee to the groin before nearly getting knocked out, to stop Frank Trigg (12-3-0) 4:05 of round one.
Two minutes into the fight, Hughes, making his sixth career UFC welterweight title defense, the first since regaining the belt versus Georges St-Pierre last year, was in a horrible spot against the man whom he forced a tapout of at UFC 45.
Hughes backed away from Trigg hoping referee Mario Yamasaki had seen the knee and would call a timeout. But Yamasaki missed it and Trigg gave no ground, blasting the Hillsboro, Ill. farm boy with consecutive power punches that dropped him to the canvas. Trigg swept in and mounted, firing punches and elbows while going for the kill.
The situation was eerily similar to when the Pat Miletich-welterweight succumbed to BJ Penn by submission January 2004. When Hughes gave up his back, Trigg’s heart must’ve skipped a beat.
To not only win, but to win by the same rear-naked choke that Hughes used against me — revenge!
There was a problem for Trigg, however: Hughes was quickly recovering, and with each passing second, the champion explained afterwards, he became more and more angry.
No way Trigg beats me like this — kneeing me in the groin then taking advantage of it to hurt me. No way.
Sufficiently lucid, Hughes forcefully relieved Trigg of back-control and scooped up the world-class wrestler on his shoulder before stomping over to what he thought was his corner.
It was the loudest moment in a night of loud moments.
After slamming Trigg to canvas, Hughes, 31, viciously pounded away with punches and elbows, opening a cut near Trigg’s left eye. But that wasn’t enough for Hughes — now intent in hurting the man he spent months preparing for.
The best of Hughes followed, as he jammed shot after shot into Trigg’s face. Soon the 32-year-old Trigg was in the same position that ended his night versus Hughes 15 months earlier. The champion took advantage of what Trigg couldn’t and locked in the rear-naked choke, forcing a tapout 4:05 of the first round, nine seconds longer than he’d needed the first time they fought.
In under card action, Renato “Babalu” Sobral (25-5-0) was too much for a 205-pound Travis Wiuff (34-5-0), submitting the Minnesotan 24 seconds into the second round.
Both men returned to the UFC after last making appearances on the UFC 40 card, where each lost. In the years since they’ve both worked hard to improve and progress as fighters.
Wiuff, 27, had put together an impressive string of victories, though most came in smaller shows against competition not close to the caliber he faced tonight in Brazilian. And the 29-year-old Babalu, too, had recently resuscitated a career that needed some life.
Versus Wiuff, he was very good. Multiple takedowns had him in control much of the first period. His edge on the feet was also clear, several times slamming Wiuff with stiff punches and kicks.
At the start of round two, Babalu fired a kick to Wiuff’s thigh that, had it taken place on a firing range, might have been mistaken for a .12 gauge shotgun. The fight immediately hit the floor, where from the guard Babalu transitioned from triangle-choke to armbar. Wiuff could only tapout or risk not fighting for many months.
Matt Lindland (14-3-0) made his UFC return a triumphant one, submitting Texan Travis Lutter (7-2-0) via guillotine choke 3:32 of round two. The 34-year-old Olympic silver medalist was aggressive, suplexing Lutter, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, to the mat where he actively searched for cut-inducing elbows.
To his credit, Lutter, 31, worked the butterfly guard to perfection and swept the wrestler to his back. A competitive first round led into a slower, methodical effort from the Gresham, Oregon-based Lindland in period two. Lutter moved well from the bottom, but lost composure for just a moment during a scramble.
Lindland scooped up Lutter’s head and locked in a guillotine choke. He stood, hoping to apply fight-ending pressure, but was forced to fall to his back to find it. The tapout came 3:13 of round two.
With the win, the former UFC middleweight title contender is back in the division’s picture. He’ll have an idea of what’s next after June’s Evan Tanner-Rich Franklin bout in Atlantic City.
After weighing-in at 170 pounds, Georges St-Pierre entered the Octagon tonight close to the middleweight limit of 185. His opponent, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, didn’t mind. In fact, for all he cared, St-Pierre could have been 250 lbs.
Miller, from Atlanta by way of Las Vegas, was here to fight, and despite losing a unanimous decision (30-27 on each judge’s card) to the powerful Canadian, the 24-year-old gained new fans tonight.
St-Pierre (9-1-0) tore through the unorthodox Miller (24-5-0) in the opening round — powering out of every sneaky submission attempt; brushing aside a jab to score one of his own; putting his eccentric opponent on the canvas whenever he wished.
Courtesy of a St-Pierre elbow, Miller began round two battered and bloody — but he was still smiling. Continuing his path to victory, St-Pierre controlled the pace despite Miller’s unusual in-ring style. Submissions never seemed to faze him. Neither did being pounded in the face.
As the fight moved into the final round, St-Pierre didn’t seem as dangerous as he had in the previous two. And Miller, still, didn’t seem to care.
With just over a minute remaining in the fight, a position reversal of St-Pierre brought the already-full arena to its feet. “Mayhem” scored from side-control and relaxed in the position. It was the first time in the fight that he had St-Pierre in a tough spot, but there would be no miracle.
Muscling his way out of danger, St-Pierre put Miller on his back for the final time in the fight.