Issue 068
October 2010
Some call feisty WEC bantamweight Antonio Banuelos ‘Mini-Chuck’. Here’s what it’s like to train with ‘The Iceman’ – when you’re only 5’ 3” tall.
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell has meant a lot of things to a lot of people. But no one in the mixed martial arts industry feels a bigger debt of gratitude than current World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) contender Antonio Banuelos.
“Without Chuck I’d be nothing,” Banuelos says. “I’d be probably be face down dead somewhere in a gutter. He’s done everything for me.”
Now 30, the young Banuelos wrestled at collegiate level briefly while attending California Polytechnic State University. There he struck up a friendship with one Jake Shields, who attended nearby Cuesta College. It was through Shields, then just five fights into his MMA career, that Banuelos and Liddell met in late 2000.
“I was living in San Luis Obispo,” Banuelos says. ”I just kind of dropped out of college and was not really doing anything, and Jake had started training at SLO Kickboxing, and he brought me in there to help him train and get ready for a fight. I used to wrestle with him. That’s how I met Chuck.”
Banuelos didn’t have any intentions of competing in the still relatively unknown sport of mixed martial arts, but with Liddell’s encouragement that quickly changed.
“I went in there and I wrestled, and Chuck told me to take a kickboxing class,” Banuelos says. “I took a kickboxing class and the next thing you know, Chuck told me he was going to get me a fight. We’ve just been hanging out ever since.”
Then less than 10 fights into his own career, Liddell at the time was hardly the MMA legend into which he would eventually evolve. But while the heavy-handed striker had yet to gather the riches that accompanied his rise to superstardom, Liddell still opened his door to a struggling Banuelos.
“We just started hanging out more and more, and I ended up needing a place to live because I hadn’t had a job, and I was living off my friends’ couches,” Banuelos says. “Chuck wanted me to train, so he let me stay in his apartment with him before he bought his house. He let me stay there for about a month, and that’s when we started really hanging out a lot. After that, he bought his house, and I actually got my own place. I moved into his brother’s old apartment.
“Chuck helped me a great deal. He’s been like a mentor, a best friend and a father figure. He’s brought me through some tough times. He’s kept me out of trouble. He’s just a great guy. He’s like my homie.” Ten years later, little has changed between the two – though everything around them has. Liddell earned the UFC light heavyweight title just as the sport began to gain mainstream acceptance, and Banuelos’ buddy became MMA’s first rock star.
“It’s kind of weird to me because I knew him before he got super-big,” Banuelos said. “He’s always just been the same guy. He’s down-to-earth, humble, still has the same friends.
“It was great to see something awesome like that happen to a great person. He deserves it. He put in all the work. Watching him train and stuff, he took all those fights, and then the UFC blew up and he blew up along with it. It couldn’t have happened to a greater guy.”
Despite standing just 5’ 3”, Banuelos remains a constant training partner with the 205lb Liddell. Of course, Banuelos says he’s kept a few limits in place over the years.
“I’ve only been in one or two camps where they actually had me try and take him down,” Banuelos said. “Other than that, I don’t really put on the gloves. The only time Chuck has ever put on the gloves is to show me stuff.
“I don’t spar with Chuck because I’m not stupid. I’m not going to get my head taken off. If they need me to work on his speed and just have me chase him or have him chase me around, we’ve done that, but I don’t really go full speed with him because I value my life.”
All signs currently point to Liddell’s fighting career being over after 29 professional contests, including an astounding 23 trips to the Octagon and an additional three fights for the now-defunct Pride organization.
But Liddell’s legacy is secure as one of the most accomplished and popular fighters in mixed martial arts history. For Banuelos, Liddell’s professional accolades only tell part of the story.
“I owe my whole career to Chuck, and a lot of fighters owe what they have to Chuck,” Banuelos said. “He was a pioneer of the sport, and he made the sport what it is. He helped the fighters get paid.
“I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without Chuck. I love the guy. He’s down-to-earth. He’s awesome. He’s a living legend, and no matter what he wants to do – if he wants to keep fighting or if he wants to retire – it’s up to him. I’ve got his back 120%. I’d do anything for him.”
