Behind the Scenes With Chuck Liddell
Chuck Liddell was born Charles David Liddell on December 17, 1969 in Santa Barbara, California. Although Chuck Liddell has not always been the well known mixed martial artist that he is today, fighting has always been something that is in his blood. He began studying Koei Kan karate at the young age of twelve and his passion grew from there. Today, he even has a tattoo on his scalp that reads Koei Kan. Liddell was a starter on the San Marcos High School football team for four whole years and even went on to become a Division I wrestler at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business and Accounting in 1995. When he began his mixed martial arts career he was training in Las Vegas, Nevada, but today he fights out of San Luis Obispo.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a mixed martial arts organization that is based in the United States of America. Today, it is noted as the largest and most successful mixed martial arts promotion in the entire world. The UFC was originally promoted as a single event tournament with the desire to find the best fighter in the world. There were very few rules, if any, and it was marketed as a no holds barred type of fighting. The cage fights were very violent and brutal at the time and eventually, were forced underground after they were dropped by pay per view providers. The UFC received a lot of political pressure, so it eventually reformed itself and developed stricter rules for the fighting. The UFC associated itself with state athletic commissions and it was marketed as a legitimate sport from that point on. Today, the UFC is much more socially accepted since it dropped its no holds barred title and is categorized under the mixed martial arts label.
Chuck Liddell made his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1998. Liddell won his very first match against Noe Hernandez and despite a submission loss shortly after that, he was able to establish himself and his reputation in the UFC. Throughout his first few years he was victorious over other fighters like Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, and Renato Sobral. These fights solidified his spot in the UFC and he remains one of the best fighters that the mixed martial art has ever seen.