I have to admit, I am a huge fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC. Why? Well, I have a long background in martial arts and fighting. Yeah, not very intellectual huh? To redeem myself, I will say that I love it for alternative reasons other than just liking the violence similar to the majority of watchers. What sparked me to write this is Chuck Liddell, the infamous title holder that is viewed as immortal, finally lost! Yes my friend, the long standing champion, that in my opinion was overrated, lost to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (summary of fight below).

Now before you scroll down to verbally attack me about the aforementioned statement, hear me out. I didn’t like him because, to me, he didn’t represent a champion. He was not a very dynamic fighter, not very charismatic and quite egocentric. Every fight was won with his secret weapon, a loopy non-traditional hook combined with a 76.5 (I think) inch reach. And I was tired of seeing it.

He did the same thing every fight. He would move about the octagon and entice his opponents to fight his style, which is standing up and slugging it out. This would sucker the attacker right into his domain, where he is the master. When opponents of his would get within striking distance, they would enter Liddell’s “sweet spot”, the perfect range for his reach and loopy hook which is quite far relative to normal boxing. This punch would be best described as whip-like, and like a whip, objects need to be within a predetermined distance for the whip to render useful (ie. a 7 foot whip is not good for a 2 foot distance). The problem is that in traditional boxing, the hook is not affective from afar, but Liddell’s strange and effective hook is used at a distance that is not expected, so when opponents are protecting the way they are taught to at a far distance, with hands in front, they are exposed to Liddel’s hook. What happens is his hook sneaks right around the person’s more “frontal attack” defense and touches perfectly on the side of the jaw catching them quite unsuspectingly.

The antidote to the Liddell nightmare is three fold. Opponents could, easier said then done of course, use “angles” (approaching from the side at a 45 degree angle instead of head on) never giving Liddell that perfect opportunity to strike. The use of “angles” makes you either too far or too close, depending on the arm used, for the loopy hook to be useful. Then combining these angles with staying inside Liddell’s sweet spot would render his loopy punch more or less useless. If you notice the fighting style of Liddell, he constantly and patiently focuses on getting you within the range, never getting too close or too far. This defensive technique takes away Liddell’s secret weapon bringing him down to a more “mortal” level.

The second defensive maneuver is a blocking technique that simulates the up action of chopping. You keep your elbow low covering your ribs but raise your glove to cover your ear (see clickable image to the right). This is less traditional, but it protects the side of your head, in contrast to the more head-on defensive move where you place both forearms in front of your face protecting against jabs, and right and left crosses. In my opinion, this is where Tito Ortiz, the last victim of Liddell, and most others went wrong.

Tito, a very aggressive, emotional fighter came into the octagon ready to fight Tito’s fight. Tito is a head on fighter moving straight in taking an inside position and usually bringing his opponent to the ground finishing them off while pummeling from atop. Unfortunately, though I am not necessarily a fan of Tito, his style was his major weakness against Liddell’s attack. When Tito comes out head on, he provides an easy target for Liddell’s secret weapon and consequently enticing Tito into that sweet spot for his hook. When Tito unsuccessfully tried to use angles and did not take advantage of the blocking maneuver mentioned above, he ended up being a victim to Liddell’s hook (see clickable image to the left). What was used was the more traditional head on blocking technique which was proven quite ineffective. In hindsight, I am not too sure if Tito, and other opponents of Liddell’s, were training specifically to fight Liddell but apparently training more to fight in general.

Then there is “Rampage” Jackson, a humorous, sarcastic and harmlessly egotistical fighter, who came onto the scene from Pride Fighting. Pride was a Japanese organization that holds some of the world’s most dangerous fighters, but with UFC, and its popularity, fighters from other organizations are attracted because of the promise of more money and fame. Jackson being one of these fighters along with Mirko Cro-Cop and Dan Henderson have entered the UFC octagon with more experience because of Pride’s larger fighter base and more elite opponents. Jackson has actually fought Liddell prior to tonight in 2003 within Pride’s organization winning against him, taking the light-heavy weight title.

“Rampage” was raised on the streets, and fighting for survival was just part of the life. This background of non-traditional fighting and a need for non-traditional defense is what makes “Rampage” a good opponent for Liddell. Unlike many other of Liddell’s victims, Jackson came out less hesitant and more confident, probably from his former win against Liddell. Then I noticed his atypical defensive tactics and less of a head on strategy. The first minute of the fight was not too exciting as the fighters were sizing each other up.

After about a minute and a half, Chuck threw his usual loopy hook (actually hitting the body), and Jackson lowered himself using the side defense that I mentioned above. After the hook landed, Jackson took a slight angle and landed one of the most beautiful hooks as a counterstrike right on Liddell’s jaw (see image below). This hook rocked him, buckling his legs putting Liddell on his back. Jackson then capitalized on this and pounced on the dazed Liddell landing a couple more shots before the referee, Big John McCarthy, stoped the fight to protect Liddell from any further damage. Jackson followed with his trademark howl to the audience and takes the UFC light heavy-weight title. Here is a video of the last seconds of the fight.

This was the fastest, most exciting, adrenaline producing fights I have seen since Randy Couture took the heavy weight title from the giant Tim Sylvia, but that is another story. I, unlike many other people, like a good upset and love it when the underdog wins. I am looking forward to watching Jackson in the future as he is one of the most entertaining athletes to hit the sport of fighting. He will be a healthy change to the UFC dynamic, and I for one welcome it. Liddell has done his part in bringing many viewers to the sport and giving UFC a reputation of excitement and action, but it is time for the old to step out for the new to step in. Ding, ding. Round two.