Chuck Liddell

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is the fighter who dragged the UFC into the mainstream. A Cal Poly wrestler who learned to strike under John Hackleman, he built a sprawl-and-brawl style around a looping right hand and used it to rule the light heavyweight division as UFC champion from 2005 to 2007, knocking out Randy Couture twice and Tito Ortiz twice along the way. His detour into Pride’s 2003 middleweight grand prix ended against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and Rampage took his UFC title too at UFC 71.

Liddell was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2009, was eased into retirement by Dana White in 2010 and came back once, in 2018, for a third fight with Ortiz. CagePotato covered every chapter: the title reign, the UFC executive job, the drug-test sideshows and the comeback nobody asked for.