This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Chuck Liddell Celebrates No. 50

Chuck Liddell was a man ahead of his time, a superstar in appearance and action who helped the sport of mixed martial arts gain the kind of mainstream acceptance it had always craved. “The Iceman” will celebrate his 50th birthday on Dec. 17.

Liddell wrestled collegiately at California Polytechnic State University before transitioning to MMA. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Santa Barbara, California, native made his professional debut at UFC 17 on May 15, 1998, won 15 of his first 18 fights and emerged as one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most bankable commodities. Liddell captured the undisputed light heavyweight crown in April 2005, when he knocked out Randy Couture 2:06 into the first round of their UFC 52 rematch. Successful title defenses against Couture, Jeremy Horn, Renato Sobral and Tito Ortiz followed before he relinquished his hold on the 205-pound throne in a technical knockout loss to Quinton Jackson in 2007, a little more than two weeks after appearing on the cover of ESPN The Magazine. Father Time did not treat Liddell kindly, as he has lost six of his last seven fights -- a tailspin that included his ill-fated trilogy bout with Ortiz that resulted in his being knocked out under the Golden Boy Promotions flag on Nov. 24, 2018. It came a little less than eight years after he had announced his retirement. The sixth man to be inducted into the Pioneer Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame, Liddell’s current record sits at 21-9 with 13 knockouts.

Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of December:

DEC. 1

Scott Barrett, 36
Shinsho Anzai, 34
Curtis Millender, 32
Richard Walsh, 31
Kailan Hill, 25

DEC. 2

Dennis Hallman, 44
Mike Wessel, 42
Billy Vaughan, 36
Marlon Vera, 27
Yadong Song, 22

DEC. 3

Vernon White, 48
Robert Hitte, 44
Seth Petruzelli, 40
Nina Ansaroff, 34
Shoki Omichi, 32
Tomasz Narkun, 30

DEC. 4

Sean Daugherty, 44
Bryce Logan, 30
Mike Rhodes, 30
Max Holloway, 28
Gianni Subba, 27

DEC. 5

Daijiro Matsui, 47
Travis Lutter, 46
Amy Davis, 45
Tetsuji Kato, 42
Kenichiro Togashi, 39
Roger Bowling, 37
Mats Nilsson, 36

DEC. 6

Royler Gracie, 54
Jens Pulver, 45
Peggy Morgan, 40
Igor Araujo, 39
Todd Duffee, 34

DEC. 7

Soa Palelei, 42
Ronaldo Souza, 40
K.J. Noons, 37
Dongi Yang, 35
Justin Patterson, 34
Michael Chiesa, 32
Claudia Gadelha, 31
Stephen Banaszak, 29

DEC. 8

Lucio Linhares, 46
Clay Guida, 38
Naoyuki Kotani, 38
Luiz Andrade I, 34
Pannie Kianzad, 28

DEC. 9

Chris Guillen, 47
Aaron Riley, 39
Joey Beltran, 38
Rani Yahya, 35
Terrell Hobbs, 34

DEC. 10

John Olav Einemo, 44
Andreas Kraniotakes, 38
Zoila Frausto, 36
Jamie Varner, 35
Soo Chul Kim, 28

DEC. 11

Toni Tauru, 35
Mark Drummond, 34
Amir Aliakbari, 32
Anthony Rocco Martin, 30
Mateusz Gamrot, 29

DEC. 12

Royce Gracie, 53
Evangelista Santos, 42
Yuki Shojo, 39
Court McGee, 35
Luke Sanders, 34
Neiman Gracie, 31
Derrick Adkins, 30
Alessio Di Chirico, 30
Spencer Jebb, 30

DEC. 13

Maurice Smith, 58
Mike Nickels, 48
B.J. Penn, 41
Amilcar Alves, 40
Dennis Bermudez, 33

DEC. 14

Valdir Araujo, 35
Caio Magalhaes, 32
Graham Park, 31
Heili Alateng, 28
Ion Cutelaba, 26

DEC. 15

Cleber Luciano, 46
Yasubey Enomoto, 36
Jared Chaffee, 35
Ivica Truscek, 32
Poliana Botelho, 31

DEC. 16

Narantungalag Jadambaa, 44
Elaina Maxwell, 41
James Thompson, 41
Adriano Martins, 37
Takeya Mizugaki, 36
Won Sik Park, 33
Cody McKenzie, 32
Nicco Montano, 31

DEC. 17

Chuck Liddell, 50
Kiyoshi Tamura, 50
David Loiseau, 40
Francisco Trevino, 38
Joe Ray, 35
Matt Dwyer, 30
Aline Sattelmayer, 29

DEC. 18

Kim Couture, 44
Evan Dunham, 38
Roland Delorme, 36
Deiveson Figueiredo, 32
Gerald Meerschaert, 32
Bojan Velickovic, 31

DEC. 19

Davis Sylvester, 46
Michihiro Omigawa, 44
Satoshi Ishii, 33
Darrion Caldwell, 32
Jack Marshman, 30
Steve Montgomery, 29
Tatiana Suarez, 29
Brad Katona, 28

DEC. 20

Mark Coleman, 55
Steve Granieri, 45
Taiyo Nakahara, 37
Tristan Johnson, 36
Alexei Kudin, 35
Robert Whittaker, 29

DEC. 21

Mark Kerr, 51
Tuan Pham, 42
Masakatsu Ueda, 42
Mike Bannon, 37
Brad Tavares, 32

DEC. 22

David Branch, 38
Bentley Syler, 37
Michel Quinones, 35
Norman Parke, 33
Stephen Langdown, 27

DEC. 23

Francisco Bueno, 47
Fabricio Camoes, 41
Egidijus Valavicius, 41
Iony Razafiarison, 35
Joanne Calderwood, 33

DEC. 24

Drew Fickett, 40
Jason Miller, 39
Cyril Asker, 34
Tim Elliott, 33
Aisling Daly, 32
David Khachatryan, 32

DEC. 25

Rafael Natal, 37
Damien Brown, 35
Jordan Smith, 35
Rolando Velasco, 33
Dustin Ortiz, 31

DEC. 26

Joe Angel Zamora, 48
Jerome Le Banner, 47
Alex Stiebling, 43
Dan Hornbuckle, 39
Jesus Martinez, 36
Gregor Gracie, 33
Advin Omic, 33
Albert Tumenov, 28

DEC. 27

Liron Wilson, 47
Daniel Acacio, 42
Yosmany Cabezas, 36
Cale Yarbrough, 33
Joe Pingitore, 29

DEC. 28

Gerald Lovato, 41
Steve Mocco, 38
Richard Knepp, 36
Matt Bessette, 35
Katlyn Chookagian, 31

DEC. 29

Rumina Sato, 46
Mitsuhiro Ishida, 41
Sheila Gaff, 30
Camila Lima, 30
Joey Davis, 26

DEC. 30

Shannon Gugerty, 38
Nick Osipczak, 35
Wagner Prado, 33
Magomed Alhasov, 29
Darren Stewart, 29

DEC. 31

Ian Freeman, 49
Diego Sanchez, 38
Randy Steinke, 33
Chidi Njokuani, 31
Michael Trizano, 28