![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Which all makes Liddell’s return to the cage last weekend aged 48 all the more depressing. After a run of five losses in six fights, which included two knockouts and two TKOs, Liddell had been persuaded to retire by Dana White, the UFC president, with the promise of a job for life within the organisation. It was Liddell’s fists and jaw that paved the way for Conor McGregor to earn upwards of £250 million and for UFC to be sold for $4 billion (£3.14 billion) to talent agency WME-IMG. With his distinctive Mohican, Liddell would go on to generate UFC’s first million-plus pay-per-view audience in his 2006 fight against Tito Ortiz, while his 2007 defeat by Quinton Jackson marked the start of the sport’s crossover into mainstream media coverage. His trilogy of light-heavyweight fights with Randy Couture between 20 provided the company’s first epic rivalry. It was (and many people still consider it to be) a freak show, but is now a multi-billion dollar one and few fighters are responsible for transforming the face of the sport as Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. Though he is now retired from fighting, his nickname was the Iceman. Inspired by a combination of Mortal Kombat and Conan the Barbarian, Davie pitched it as “the street fight to end all street fights” with a sumo wrestler, kick-boxer, boxer and various other martial artists competing over the course of a single night in an octagon. Chuck Liddell was born on December 17, 1969, in Santa Barbara, California. It is 25 years since a wheeler dealer called Art Davie launched Ultimate Fighting Championship. ![]()
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