Ultimate fighting star in Waterloo

If you don’t know who Chuck Liddell is, you might want to ask a young sports fan.

Liddell, one of the best-known stars of mixed martial arts circuit Ultimate Fighting Championship, will be in Waterloo today to offer his expertise to combat sports hopefuls.

Known as the Iceman, Liddell will lead a seminar at the Dojo Buy mixed martial arts store in Waterloo, beginning at 11 a.m. Participants have to buy a $125 ticket, although there are $10 tickets for spectators.

Dojo Buy, at 282 Marsland Dr., opened in June; it’s holding its grand opening today.

A native of Santa Barbara, Calif., Liddell has a career record of 21-6 and held the UFC light heavyweight title for three years before losing it last year.

Ultimate fighting combines elements of boxing, wrestling and a number of martial arts. Fighters clash in an octagon-shaped ring and use a number of disciplines to beat their opponents.

The sport has a rabid following in Canada, thanks in part to French-Canadian fighter Georges St-Pierre, the UFC welterweight champion.

was next scheduled to fight

Chuck Liddell

at UFC 85 as a replacement for the injured

Mauricio Rua

When Chuck Liddell also pulled out of the event due to an injured hamstring, Evans was matched with James Irvin. When Irvin pulled out after breaking his foot, the fight was removed from the card altogether.

This fight was then rescheduled for

UFC 88

where Evans knocked Liddell out. The finish came at 1:51 of the second round; Liddell had backed his opponent into the cage, but Evans flashed a jab that he followed quickly with a overhand right. At that moment, Liddell was throwing an uppercut. Evans’ punch landed first on Liddell’s chin Liddell was sent crashing to the canvas and the fight was stopped immediately by referee Herb Dean. Evans was awarded knockout of the night and a bonus of $60,000.

After the fight UFC President Dana White confirmed in the post-event press conference that Evans will get an immediate title shot against champion Forrest Griffin.

College career
One of eight children, Evans was a two-time All-State wrestler at Niagara-Wheatfield High School in Sanborn, New York.He was also a two-way player on the school’s football team, playing running back when on offense and safety on defense.

After graduating from high school in 1998, Evans went on to attend Niagara County Community College, where he continued his wrestling career, winning the National Junior College championship at 165 lb. (75 kg) in 2000. He then transferred to Michigan State University, competing in the 174 lb. (79 kg) weight class. He started at Michigan State for three years and amassed a 48-34 record during that time. Evans was also one of only four people to ever defeat wrestling legend Greg Jones. Since graduating from Michigan State and earning a degree in psychology, he has remained a resident of Lansing, Michigan. In 2005 he became an assistant coach for the Michigan State wrestling program.

It was fun watchin’ though.  Maybe you can start losing on purpose for all the Big Shot Bookies?… Oh, wait you may already be doing so… BTW what hand is it that keeps sending you to the floor with starz in your eyes?  Left or Right?

Anderson Silva 
Andrei Arlovski 
BJ Penn 
Chris Leben 
Chuck Liddell 
Cro Cop 
Gabriel Gonzaga 
Georges St. Pierre 
James Irvin 
Jason Lambert 
Jason MacDonald 
Jeff Monson 
Jens Pulver 
Jeremy Horn 
Keith Jardine 
Kendall Grove 
Matt Hamill 
Matt Hughes 
Matt Serra 
Michael Bisping 
Mike Swick 
Quinton Jackson 
Randy Couture 
Rashad Evans 
Renato Sobral 
Rich Franklin 
Sean Salmon 
Sean Sherk 
Tim Sylvia 
Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz

Jacob Christopher “Tito” Ortiz

(born January 23, 1975) is a Mexican American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter from Huntington Beach, California. As the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion from April 14, 2000 to September 26, 2003,Ortiz emerged as one of the sport’s biggest stars, becoming the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 and appearing on the covers of various magazines.Ortiz is the CEO of the Punishment Athletics clothing and mixed martial arts equipment line.

UFC
Ortiz’s mixed martial arts debut was at UFC 13 in 1997. Still in college, Ortiz competed as an amateur for no prize money or contracts. He beat Wes Albittron in an alternate bout by referee stoppage at 0:31 of the first round. He was selected to face Guy Mezger in the Lightweight final after Enson Inoune could not continue due to injury. Ortiz lost the fight at 2:00 in the first round by submisson. After returning with TKO victories over Jeremy Screeton at West Coast NHB Championships 1, and Jerry Bohlander at UFC 18, Tito avenged his loss to Mezger at UFC 19 by TKO in round 1.

In 1999 Ortiz fought Frank Shamrock for the UFC middleweight (205 lb) title at UFC 22, losing via submission due to strikes. Following the victory, Shamrock retired and vacated the championship. The middleweight division was then renamed the light heavyweight division and Ortiz was chosen, along with Wanderlei Silva, as a top contender.
UFC champion
Ortiz defeated Wanderlei Silva for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 25 via unanimous decision. He went on to defend the belt a record five times in the following three years, defeating Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Lion’s Den head Ken Shamrock.

At UFC 44, after a near year-long layoff from the sport, Ortiz fought the new interim light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, who had defeated Chuck Liddell for the interim title at UFC 43 in September 2003. Couture defeated Ortiz via unanimous decision. The loss ended Ortiz’s near three and a half year title reign, which is still the longest light heavyweight championship reign since the title’s inception in 1997.

Following his loss to Couture, Ortiz faced Chuck Liddell at UFC 47, losing by second round knockout. After six months off, Ortiz returned and took a unanimous decision victory over newcomer Patrick Côté at UFC 50, and a split decision over Vitor Belfort at UFC 51.

In February 2005, Ortiz took time away from the UFC and was offered deals with several promotions, including PRIDE Fighting Championships and the Don King-backed World Fighting Alliance, but none came to fruition. Ortiz opted to try his hand at professional wrestling, signing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a guest referee.

Chuck Liddell UFC Fighter ESPN

Chuck Liddell, the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion, is a fierce competitor.  soft-spoken, articulate, and very smart. It’s my pleasure to welcome Chuck to the HeadBlade team. The following information was taken from Chuck’s website with his permission: Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell was born on December 17, 1969 in Santa Barbara, California. Chuck currently lives in San Luis Obisbo, California and owns and operates with his partner, Scott Adams, San Luis Obispo (SLO) Kickboxing School. Chuck became interested in martial arts when he was 12 years old. At that time, he began to train in the martial art of Koei Kan Karate. Chuck continued to train in Karate through high school and college. While at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California, Chuck was captain of both the football and wrestling teams. Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, University recruited Chuck for their Division I/Pacific 10 conference wrestling team. Chuck eventually attended Cal Poly University and was a four-year starter on the wrestling team. Chuck graduated from Cal Poly with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business/Accounting in 1995.