The UFC Results

Here is a clip from ESPN showing the knockout:

In an incredibly surprising fight Rashad Evans has knocked out the former light heavy weight champion Chuck Liddell in UFC 88. Chuck Liddell went for a fierce upper cut and Rashad Evans countered with a right hook and knocked out Chuck Liddell with no follow up needed. This propels Rashad Evans very far up the 205 ladder and puts Chuck Liddell’s future in question. What do you think the future holds for Chuck, should he retire?

Check out the rest of the UFC 88 Results.

Chuck Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua are set to fight at UFC 85 in London. Like every fight in the UFC it could be scheduled today and canceled tomorrow, but let’s cross our fingers.

This is a very good test for Chuck Liddell. Yes, he just beat Wanderlei Silva (see the quick UFC 79 Results) but people have questioned him recently because he has suffered some pretty nasty knockouts in his last few fights. But when it comes down to it Chuck Liddell still beat Wanderlei Silva! Since Liddell lost to Keith Jardin he has so much to prove and the UFC is not letting him off the hook with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Shogun is a scary fighter. There were rumors of him being injured before the Forest Griffin fight, but he still lost, and lost decisively. An injury can hurt a fighter’s confidence, so a healthy, fired up Shogun coming off of a loss is a lot to handle for Liddell. If Shogun beats The Iceman he is back but will either face Griffin for a title shot (if Griffin wins) or will face Griffin for a rematch before moving on to fight Rampage.

The title shot route for Liddell will probably be similar. The UFC management wants to make as much money as possible. Chuck Liddell is a money maker, especially when he is trying to get revenge. If Liddell gets passed Rua, Rampage/Liddell 3 is almost inevitable. So I guess we just sit back and watch the 205 lbs. fireworks go off!

In an incredibly shocking fight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson knocked out Chuck Liddell at 1:53 in the first round. This fight was four years in the making. After Liddell’s shocking loss to Randy Couture at UFC 43: Meltdown he made a stint in PRIDE where he was defeated by Rampage in 2003. After that defeat Liddell went back to the UFC and was unstoppable for seven straight fights, which were all won by knock out.

Liddell predicted that this fight would be his moment to erase his only unavenged loss. He said in pre-fight interviews that he would knock Rampage Jackson out in the first round. He was very confident and was in character as the “Ice Man”. Liddell getting knocked out in the first round was on neither fighter’s mind, in fact, in Rampage’s pre-fight interviews he said that “He is going to whoop Chuck’s ass” and win in the third round with a knock out.

The fight started like any other Liddell fight. The challenger moves forward as Chuck tries to lure them in. Rampage circled and Liddell slid around the octagon. About a minute in something strange happened though. Rampage takes a small step back and puts up his in arms, basically calling Liddell out. Instead of sticking to Liddell’s tried and true formula he reacted to Rampage and started to pursue, he took Rampage’s bait.

Not much longer after Rampage Jackson’s taunt Liddell threw a hard body shot that Rampage blocked. From Jackson’s defense posture he exploded with an enormous right hook that hit Chuck squarely on the chin. Chuck fell to the ground and Rampage pounced and punished a relatively helpless Liddell with strong hammer fists and elbows before John McCarthy, the ref, stepped in and called the fight.

Chuck Liddell initially thought the fight was called too quickly but didn’t pursue with argument after he saw the fight replayed on the big screen. Rampage Jackson is the new UFC light heavy weight champion and is now set to defend his title against the PRIDE middle and light heavy weight champion, Dan Henderson.