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, 36Shinsho Anzai, 34
Curtis Millender, 32
Richard Walsh, 31
Kailan Hill, 25
DEC. 2
Dennis Hallman, 44Mike Wessel, 42
Billy Vaughan, 36
Marlon Vera, 27
Yadong Song, 22
DEC. 3
Vernon White, 48Robert Hitte, 44
Seth Petruzelli, 40
Nina Ansaroff, 34
Shoki Omichi, 32
Tomasz Narkun, 30
DEC. 4
Sean Daugherty, 44Bryce Logan, 30
Mike Rhodes, 30
Max Holloway, 28
Gianni Subba, 27
DEC. 5
Daijiro Matsui, 47Travis Lutter, 46
Amy Davis, 45
Tetsuji Kato, 42
Kenichiro Togashi, 39
Roger Bowling, 37
Mats Nilsson, 36
DEC. 6
Royler Gracie, 54Jens Pulver, 45
Peggy Morgan, 40
Igor Araujo, 39
Todd Duffee, 34
DEC. 7
Soa Palelei, 42Ronaldo 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, 46Clay Guida, 38
Naoyuki Kotani, 38
Luiz Andrade I, 34
Pannie Kianzad, 28
DEC. 9
Chris Guillen, 47Aaron Riley, 39
Joey Beltran, 38
Rani Yahya, 35
Terrell Hobbs, 34
DEC. 10
John Olav Einemo, 44Andreas Kraniotakes, 38
Zoila Frausto, 36
Jamie Varner, 35
Soo Chul Kim, 28
DEC. 11
Toni Tauru, 35Mark Drummond, 34
Amir Aliakbari, 32
Anthony Rocco Martin, 30
Mateusz Gamrot, 29
DEC. 12
Royce Gracie, 53Evangelista 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, 58Mike Nickels, 48
B.J. Penn, 41
Amilcar Alves, 40
Dennis Bermudez, 33
DEC. 14
Valdir Araujo, 35Caio Magalhaes, 32
Graham Park, 31
Heili Alateng, 28
Ion Cutelaba, 26
DEC. 15
Cleber Luciano, 46Yasubey Enomoto, 36
Jared Chaffee, 35
Ivica Truscek, 32
Poliana Botelho, 31
DEC. 16
Narantungalag Jadambaa, 44Elaina 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, 50Kiyoshi Tamura, 50
David Loiseau, 40
Francisco Trevino, 38
Joe Ray, 35
Matt Dwyer, 30
Aline Sattelmayer, 29
DEC. 18
Kim Couture, 44Evan Dunham, 38
Roland Delorme, 36
Deiveson Figueiredo, 32
Gerald Meerschaert, 32
Bojan Velickovic, 31
DEC. 19
Davis Sylvester, 46Michihiro Omigawa, 44
Satoshi Ishii, 33
Darrion Caldwell, 32
Jack Marshman, 30
Steve Montgomery, 29
Tatiana Suarez, 29
Brad Katona, 28
DEC. 20
Mark Coleman, 55Steve Granieri, 45
Taiyo Nakahara, 37
Tristan Johnson, 36
Alexei Kudin, 35
Robert Whittaker, 29
DEC. 21
Mark Kerr, 51Tuan Pham, 42
Masakatsu Ueda, 42
Mike Bannon, 37
Brad Tavares, 32
DEC. 22
David Branch, 38Bentley Syler, 37
Michel Quinones, 35
Norman Parke, 33
Stephen Langdown, 27
DEC. 23
Francisco Bueno, 47Fabricio Camoes, 41
Egidijus Valavicius, 41
Iony Razafiarison, 35
Joanne Calderwood, 33
DEC. 24
Drew Fickett, 40Jason Miller, 39
Cyril Asker, 34
Tim Elliott, 33
Aisling Daly, 32
David Khachatryan, 32
DEC. 25
Rafael Natal, 37Damien Brown, 35
Jordan Smith, 35
Rolando Velasco, 33
Dustin Ortiz, 31
DEC. 26
Joe Angel Zamora, 48Jerome 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, 47Daniel Acacio, 42
Yosmany Cabezas, 36
Cale Yarbrough, 33
Joe Pingitore, 29
DEC. 28
Gerald Lovato, 41Steve Mocco, 38
Richard Knepp, 36
Matt Bessette, 35
Katlyn Chookagian, 31
DEC. 29
Rumina Sato, 46Mitsuhiro Ishida, 41
Sheila Gaff, 30
Camila Lima, 30
Joey Davis, 26
DEC. 30
Shannon Gugerty, 38Nick Osipczak, 35
Wagner Prado, 33
Magomed Alhasov, 29
Darren Stewart, 29
DEC. 31
Ian Freeman, 49Diego Sanchez, 38
Randy Steinke, 33
Chidi Njokuani, 31
Michael Trizano, 28
Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell