Issue 038
June 2008
They say that if you’re cool, you don’t need to let people know – you just wait to be told. Aptly nicknamed ‘The Iceman’, Chuck Liddell is that kind of guy. You know he’s never once had to tell people he’s cool: he probably gets told it on a daily basis.
Radiating laid-back California vibes, the 38-year-old light heavyweight is about as mellow away from the Octagon as he is Ruthless inside of it. One of the most professional fighters in the game, he knows the deal. Media tours are ten a penny, promotional interviews are tiresome and time-consuming. You turn up, you act nice and you breathe a sigh of relief when it’s time to fly home. But does he seem bothered? No way. Not even when a couple of British journalists step into his hotel suite to ask him a series of probing and often personal questions. That’s life as Liddell, baby.
Unlike your stereotypical media darling, The Iceman soaks it up with the good grace of someone who has been at it a long time. He’s not only experienced, but grateful for what he’s got and where he’s at. Dana White calls him the UFC’s most recognizable fighter. He gets mobbed pretty much wherever he goes. Life has changed quite a lot in the last few years.
“A couple of years ago we’d thought it [MMA] had grown and it started to take off,” he said, sipping tea from a cup and saucer. “But five years ago I thought it’d take a lot longer to get where we’re at now.”
Liddell has come a long way in the time he’s been with the UFC. He started fighting for them over a decade ago, making his debut with the promotion in May 1998 on UFC 17. Since then he emerged as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in not only the UFC but also the world. He won and lost the 205lb title, was a coach on the inaugural series of The Ultimate Fighter and became a huge celebrity, appearing in everything from music videos to movies.
“It’s been an interesting career,” he agreed. Although not exactly a motormouth, he wasn’t in a very talkative mood due to the horrendous cold he was battling. He kept a box of tissues to hand, stopping periodically to blow his nose. He politely apologized after each interruption.
Chuck is a fighter first and foremost, and credits those at the helm of the UFC for the sport’s massive success. “I think it’s a lot of work from Lorenzo and the guys, a lot of money that those guys put into the sport, getting it sanctioned and getting it on TV. You know, the reality-TV craze helped us out a lot. It allowed us to get on free TV. We couldn’t even get on free TV! And they took a risk too because that was privately funded.”
Risky though it was, The Ultimate Fighter turned out to be a turning point for the UFC and MMA as a whole, and never one to be left out, Chuck was right there making history as one of the first season’s coaches. Seven series later, I wondered if he ever made time to catch an episode or two of the show he helped create. “I don’t watch too much of it, but it’s come along. It’s funny when I watch the show sometimes, you hear the guys complaining about the time that it takes. I think the first season was 60 days of shooting, now it’s down to like 37 or something, but you hear these guys complaining about it. I do give it to them, its tough. You’re locked up, you got to hang out in the house, they don’t let you watch TV or read books, you got nothing to do but interact with the other guys that are there. It drives you a little stir-crazy I’m sure.”
The cast of that first series includes many of today’s mainstays of the UFC. Fighters such as Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian, Chris Leben and more all got their break on the show. “Coaching those guys was fun. Working with guys who are really quality fighters who have a lot of skills already, it’s not like I’m trying to build them, I just showed them some fine points and try to help them, show some ideas on what you do and actually take some stuff that they do from them. I learned as much from them as they did from me. It was good.”
The winner of that first series, Forrest Griffin, is fighting Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson for what was once Chuck’s title. Eager for a rematch with Rampage, Chuck admits that should he get a title shot it could well be against a fighter who was on his team. “If Forrest wins the belt I’ll take the title shot first and Quinton afterward,” he said, obviously keen to avenge the two losses he has against Rampage (“I want to get a shot at Quinton, and I’ll fight anybody in my way to do that”).
Two years ago I asked Chuck, then at his most dominant and struggling to find worthwhile challengers, if he thought a fight with Forrest would hold any merit. His exact words were “If they put me in with Forrest, it’d be a massacre”. Things have changed a lot since then, and Chuck is the first to point it out. “He’s grown and become a better fighter. I said back then, in time he would become someone who could make it a fight, at that time he wasn’t ready.” An encounter between Forrest and Chuck would be one hell of a fight for the fans (Chuck made a point of saying, “I’m not sure he’d like it all that much”).
Before a fight with either Forrest or Rampage there was supposed to be a tussle with Rashad Evans, scheduled for London in July. This fell through when Liddell sustained a hamstring injury in training, taking him out of the fight. Ironically, his original opponent had been Shogun Rua, who pulled out with a knee injury.
Pressed on his thoughts about fights with either Rashad or Shogun, Chuck didn’t seem fazed, although reports from inside his training camp were that they expected a tougher fight from Evans. “He’s got a lot better takedowns than Shogun does. That always makes it a little different. I wasn’t too impressed with Shogun’s shot. I wouldn’t have had to worry about that, I would have just stood and struck with him.”
Liddell’s training is overseen by his long-time coach John Hackleman, who heads up The Pit gym in Southern California. Together for 15 years, Liddell has never fought without Hackleman in his corner, and their relationship is rock solid. Training for Liddell is something he enjoys, but ultimately it’s still a job. “A lot of people say, ‘they get paid so much for fighting for 15 minutes’. Yeah, 15 minutes, but I’ve been training for 26 years. I did train pretty hard for the last three months, working out two or three times a day doing all the things to get prepared for a fight. People don’t know how hard that is.”
A father of two, Liddell likes to relax by hanging out with his kids (his daughter Trista and son Cade). The children live with their mothers, neither of whom Liddell is married to, but they remain close. “I run around the park or go to the jungle gym and chase my kids around. Everyone laughs at me, it’s hard to fit in those things when you’re big and they can get through there a lot faster than I can, but I still chase them. It’s fun.”
Though never cited as a reason for his fighting (his foray into MMA was more an extension of his athletic career), Liddell grew up in a single-parent family in a tough neighborhood. Being able to provide for his kids means a lot to him. “My kids are spoiled rotten, but in a good way. They’re really good kids. But I like to take them to do stuff other kids don’t and I never did. We go to Disneyland and we don’t have to wait in line,” he chuckles.
Though sidelined with his injured leg, Liddell will be keeping a close eye on what happens with the next few months' worth of light heavyweight fights. “It’s an interesting weight class right now and a lot of tough guys out there and it’ll be interesting to see where they’re really at.”
With the top-tier guys possibly out of reach of the majority of the 205lb division’s contenders, Chuck still considers one or two fighters worth watching. “I think there are some guys in the middle we’re trying to figure out where they’re at. Guys like Machida, I’m interested to see exactly where he fits. I want to know, I want to figure out if he’s emerging or if he’s ready to be in the top tier.” Machida will fight Tito Ortiz at the end of May, which will answer those questions. Don’t even think of asking Chuck if he would consider fighting Tito again though. “There are still people who ask, ‘when are you going to knock Tito out again?’ I’m like, you guys really want to see that? It’s surprising to me. I’ve no interest in that fight.”
As one of the light heavyweight division’s top dogs, Liddell knows he has a target on his back, but that’s no problem for him. “I like that. I don’t mind people trying to fight me, that’s what I want. I want to fight the best guys. I got two to four years [left]. I’m hoping in two years I’m still saying two to four years! I love fighting, I love what I do, so long as my body works. I’m hoping I know when to stop… I don’t know, it’s going to be hard to get me to stop. I love fighting, it’s going to be hard to make me hang it up.”
Get the Chuck charm
No luck with the ladies? Hit the nightclub armed with Chuck’s tried and tested methods and see what happens!
1. Take your time
Take a leaf out of Chuck’s book and play it as cool as you can without seeming disinterested. “I’m patient. I like to read people. I’m not real pushy and I never have been. I like to let them come to me.” Just don’t stand there by yourself all night waiting for women to come to speak to you.
2. Believe in yourself
“I’ve always been pretty straightforward, and I’m not shy. If I’m at a party and I see a girl I go talk to them. I’m kind of quiet but never been shy, never afraid to say anything to anybody.” Of course being Chuck Liddell means you can probably say what you like to people, but he has a point. Women love a man with self-confidence. Just don’t come across as arrogant.
3. Bite the bullet
“They can’t turn you down if you don’t ask, right?” Right! You can be as cool as you like but you don’t ask that hot chick for her number, how are you going to get it? “ If you don’t ask you don’t get. I know a lot of hot girls and guys never ask them out, never. Guys talk to them but they get worried and think they can’t approach them. There are a lot of great guys out there who put girls in a different league, but she might just looking for a nice guy.”
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