This past week, news came out that Chuck Liddell would make his next title defense at UFC 71, but who his opponent would be was unknown.
When Quinton Jackson’s WFA contract was purchased by the UFC, we knew that Jackson was signed through July for two fights. Jackson and his manager have insisted that they would not fight Chuck Liddell during either of those fights and that they wanted at least two warmup fights before a title match against Liddell.
Well, it appears that the UFC must have loosened the wallet somewhat and made an enticing offer for Jackson to fight Liddell before his contract is up. The current word circulating is that Liddell vs. Jackson will take place this May at UFC 71. Of course, no official UFC announcement has been made, but several reliable sources are confirming that this fight has been verbally agreed to by both camps.
Most fans were wondering what was next for Chuck after his easy defeat of Renato Sobral and Tito Ortiz. It was widely assumed that Forest Griffin would get the next title shot, but his loss to Keith Jardine derailed those plans for the UFC. Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine were both possibilites for Liddell’s next opponent, but personally I don’t believe either of those fighters is ready for a title shot; and I have a feeling that Joe Silva, the UFC matchmaker, feels the same way.
Let’s hope that Jackson is ready for this title shot, and he is free of the “nerves” and ring-rust we saw in his UFC debut against Marvin Eastman.
Ok everybody, looks like it’s on. As much as I hope he will be, I still don’t think Rampage will be ready for Chuck just yet…damn… seems like May is a long ways off…so many things could happen in the meantime…I wonder why they would rush this so quickly.
RAMPAGE IS NOT READY! He and his manager are clearly doing it because of the $250,000 - $300,000 he’s going to get. If he was really interested in becoming the “next big thing” and a champion in the UFC, he would wait untill the Octagon Rust was off.
Early perdiction: Chuck looks like he’s a UFC God by dismataling Quinton EASIER than ORTIZ!
I ment: Liddell will have an easier fight than he did with Oritz…
with the amount of time that rampage will have to prepare i think he will beat our champ rampage is way better than ortiz until then im ready to defend rampage until he wins in may so bring on all haters
**** man…i dunno..i am in no way shape or form a hater of annny fighter..exxcept tim silvia, but thats different..i personally dont think rampage is gonna be ready for liddell….i want him to win soo bad, but i dont think it will happen…like his fight against eastman proved it..eastman is a good fighter, but seriously..if it was chuck against eastman it woulda ended alotttt sooner…i juss see rampage losing because of his loss of explosiveness…look at his old fights, he was right in there commin on strong, now hes sooooo calm and too relaxed…like i see liddell catching him with a right hook outta no where, like usual, and juss pounchin on rampage….i could be wrong here, but before rampage beat liddell at his own game..but liddell has gotten alottt better, rampage is basically the same great fighter..so this should prove to be an interesting match, i juss hoped rampage woulda taken more time to prepare, because regardless what anyone says or thinks, chuck is the champ for a reason, and hes def not afraid of rampage, and he has a personal vandetta for him, so i dunno this may prove to be good in his favour…..what do you think guys?
[...] MMA HQ: Liddell vs. Rampage at UFC 71? [...]
Well guys, I hate to say, “I told you so”, but how can Dana not schedule this fight? This is the most anticipated fight ever… It will generate more revenue than Cro Cop fighting anybody!
I just hope that by now everbody realizes that there’s only two ways Rampage even has chance of winning….. the first one you all should know…… lucky punch.
…and the second, hell freezes over.
Like i said… if rampage fights liddell this year, he will lose, i dunno why they set this match up so fast.. dam it! now if chuck batters rampage, he might go into a loiseau state of mind. BAD DECISION PEOPLE, rampage and his team should have stood their ground…
“there’s only two ways Rampage even has chance of winning….. the first one you all should know…… lucky punch.
…and the second, hell freezes over.”…
lol relaxx there bud, thats a pretty bold statement, seeing it has been done before….. but thats your opinion…. chucks had all this time off to train, and i bet it was all for this anticipated match up….he better be ready……maybe this is why liddells camp has been ducking and diving away from WANDERLEI SILVA’s camp…and i dont blame him either, he knows what will happen to him
The fact that Rampage didn’t look good in his last fight is probably exactly why he IS getting the title shot. The UFC doesn’t want Jackson to beat their boy. If Jackson does win that drops Chuck way down in the 205 rankings and will make UFC look like a joke.
roadblock i agree they dont want chuck to lose hes the only one that can hold down a ppv solo but the tough thing about chuck is that he has ko power and thats hard to counter cuz at any time he can catch u and ur out and that u cant train for that but rampage will realize what a chance he has and train his azz off and hopefully wins LONG LIVES RAMPAGE
I, too, think Rampage would benefit from another fight before facing Liddell, but don’t forget, Liddell will have some rust to shake off come May. He’s been rehabbing. Both of these fighters could regain their form if each were given a fight before they met. Otherwise, it’ll be a very tentative match.
I guess the question becomes, aside from Rampage, who else should be put in front of Chuck for ufc 71?
You do know that rampage beat chuck before right? Go research when liddell went to fight in pride.
HEY DR J….. HERES ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU … SEE HOW SMART YOU ARE… NOW U KNOW WIKIPEDIA IS A VERY ACCURATE WEBSITE…. ANSWER THIS … 3 PPV EVENTS IN THE MONTH OF APRIL…??? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE… UFC 69 IS ON APRIL 7….. IT SAYS UFC 70 IS APRIL 21 AND IT SAYS UFC 71 WILL BE ON APRIL 26TH…… ???? WHAT THE HE11 IS GOING ON HERE .. CUZ WIKIPEDIA IS NEVER REALLY WRONG????
i think that 71 is in may
@PATRICK,
UFC 71 is currently scheduled to take place May 26, not April 26.
I wouldn’t put too much stock into the MMA entries on Wikipedia. The UFC and MMA pages are pretty much “controlled” by the same 5 or 6 users. I know because I’ve put up information and edits myself several times and they are almost immediately taken down or changed, as “not credible” or because I don’t link to Sherdog or MMA HQ. My sources and news that I have put up are always validated, but still they are taken down.
Anyways, UFC 71 is in May, not April
to say rampage isnt ready is funny he can and i believe will beat lidell first time back to an octagon in a while so he took his time and eastman is the kinda guy who can knock you out in one mistake he is a kickboxer and strong look at when cro cop fought randleman **** happens but he is ready to fight chuck their isnt a doubt in my mind that hes ready for this. and if you didnt see the first time they meet chuck was murdered.
My money is definitely on Jackson whenever they fight. Jackson has tremendous boxing defense. He’ll be able to deflect Chuck’s looping punches with his arms like he did in their first fight. He was able to deflect Silva’s punches in both of their fights. Knees in the clinch and that nasty kick to the ribs did him in against Sivla (twice) and Shogun.
QJ started slow against Eastman (I believe him that he was nervous) but he finished strong and was never in danger. Chuck fans (who think it shows weakness on Rampage’s part) would be wise to look at Chuck’s fights against Vernon White, Jeremy Horn, the 3rd Randy fight and the second Tito fight.
Styles make fights. Babalu’s hands down by his waist (first fight) and bizarre decision to run forward with his head down (second fight) earned him two highlight losses to Chuck.
Randy fought a terrible gameplan in the 3rd fight and didn’t fight particulary smart in the second (especially after getting thumbed). Those two Randy fights are the only two times Chuck fought top 5 fighter since losing to QJ in 2003. I think Chuck’s stock is unrealistically high right now and QJ’s is low. UFC thinks now is the time to do Chuck/QJ and that Rampage will lose. I think they’ll be proven wrong and find they have two guys in Rampage and Anderson Silva who were second tier when they left Pride holding UFC gold.
ha and roadblock were have u been theres only a handfull of us here that believe that rampage will win and roadblock i love how u broke it down now im waiting to see what the hillbilly has to say
What’s with all the “the word is this” and “the word is that”? You saw the Liddell-Rampage rumor on MMA Weekly just like everybody else so why not give credit
@TERRENCE,
I don’t just write a post every time MMAWeekly decides to add a new fight to their “rumors” page. If you check around, you will see that quite a few of the “rumors” that they listed on their site, I never spoke about on MMA HQ, because I couldn’t back them other from other sources, and they ended up not happening.
Sure I check MMAWeekly just like everyone else, but I have plenty of other avenues that I go down to verify information as much as possible. I wouldn’t post something here on MMA HQ unless I had confirmed it verbally myself, or had a few different other trusted sources who had confirmed it as well.
YO DR J…. ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YA WHATS THIS CRAP I HEAR KURT ANGLE MIGHT BE GOING TO THE UFC OR ELITEXC. THAT WOULD BE SO DUMB TO SEE ANGLE IN MMA
y would it be dumb if the man could fight why not and if he gets his azz kicked y not
@PATRICK,
In an interview with a wrestling publication last month, Angle said he would be “joining” the EliteXC pretty soon. He didn’t say that he would be fighting, but that is what was generally implied.
I’m not going to talk about Kurt Angle on MMA HQ at all until he actually signs a contract for an MMA fight. I don’t need to waste my time an some pro wrestler and, to be honest, I really could care less about Angle.
Not to mention Kurt Angle would have to come off the “roids” in order to compete in any MMA org. because adverse to “sports entertainment” which doesn’t mandate drug screening, a licensed sport like MMA actually mandates it’s atheletes take drug screens. It makes me wonder how any of those guys would do in MMA, what a joke. All hopped up on roids and they don’t know any real fighting skills, it’s all a script….
isnt he a olympic gold medalist if he trains properlly he might develop some sick groundnpound
Compared to Cro cop.. lol.. yeah that will work, we have seen how (tito ortiz) takedowns and ground and pounders do against sic strikers (chuck liddell). Angle would get knocked out by Tim Sylvia… what would he do against say Mirco Crocop or Andre Arlovski…
Back on script, in the Rampage vs. Liddell fight rumor, who can say who would win? Anything can happen in a fight, I mean, who though Tim Sylvia would KNOCK OUT Andrei Arlovski in the first freakin’ round of their second fight?! I think it could go either way, just roll the dice and see who get’s a lucky punch in…
Thank you MMAkansas, I’ve been saying that since Ive join this post. It’s anybody’s fight out there, watch Randleman catch Cro Cop, Sylvia with Arlosky, O’brien with Herring. I really don’t have a favorite fighter, but I do tell it like it is. Liddel might have to go to the hospital for those hickey he got on his a$$.
Well the rumor mill is all the buzz right now that Chuck will defend his title in UFC71.
Who will he fight?
Come on guys, this is the most controversial match of the decade!
All I have to debate is that vagot ***, and roadblock?
Chuck WILL KO QJ……….period, simply because the hypester will try to stand with him……..duh……you don’t do that with the ICEMAN.
Did you hear that “Chuck wants to move to heavyweight to fight Crocop “?
I don’t see why Dana would let that happen. Chuck is the last of the poster boys of the UFC and it’s not in their interest to see him get beat up. The only way to beat Crocop is on the ground or maybe land a super lucky shot like Randleman. No Heavy weight has a good enough ground game to get him there. Chuck has never fought a striker with the abilities of Mirko. The Iceman needs to stay where he’s at because that’s where he’s been dominant for so long. He can’t take Crocop in a kickboxing match and Mirko probably has a better ground game but I doubt it would go there.
I hear ya MAD. As much as I bet on Chuck, that’s the only fight that I would have to pass. I wouldn’t bet on Cro Cop either, but I’m afraid that because of Chuck’s technique of squaring up against his opponent on the outside with his guard down, that left round house to the temple would mean his defeat……can you say……..
Boot to the head!
I could probably bet alot of money that this is going to be the main event of UFC 71, it just makes the most sense. Rashad Evans is still in Fight Nights and hasnt made his way to big PPV’s; and Keith Jardine has only had 1 big win in the UFC which is against Forrest Griffin so its way too early to put him in against the Ice Man.
Chuck is an excellent striker but doesnt have a huge technique, he leaves is arms looping around and counters hoping to land that “big” left. Quinton Jackson is alot more technical and can get inside the iceman. Going back to the first fight Jackson plain and simple dominated the UFC LHW Champ. Having said that, Liddell has avenged every single loss that he has had. WHY? because he continuosly gets better and better and better. One of his main weapons now is fear…every fighter fears his striking. If Quinton shows his old self, which is aggressivness, we might just have one the most exciting Light Heavyweight fights yet.
derect i hear u man the rampage we seen in the ufc was full of nerves hes a beast and has a chin he will give the iceman a warm bath at 71
chuck hits like a truck! i cant see him giving up his title to rampage easily. i think rampage should take two testing warm up fights first, maybe against jardine or even tito! another fight i would love to see is randy vs arlovski??? anyone else, either way its exciting times for mma!!
@DERECT
“Quinton Jackson is alot more technical” LOL!
@Niel
I give you one more to ponder………Randy vs. Rampage. Then we’ll see who’s……………..technical. LOL
@***
nevermind……… I just thought you were improving, until you had to go say something like this about the hypester….
“a chin he will give the iceman a warm bath at 71″
dennis u should stop calling rampage a hypester remember he beat liddel how good does that look if liddel got beat by hype
YO DENNIS ANYONE …. CAN U GUYS POST A LINK OF THAT ROGAN ARGUMENT… I CANT FIND IT????
hey patrick sorry i havent mastered the world wide web yet but if u go to dailymotion.com and type in joe rogan im sure its the first video or type in calos mencia its there also
hey patrick sorry i havent mastered the world wide web yet but if u go to dailymotion.com and type in joe rogan im sure its the first video or type in carlos mencia its there also
LOL JOE ROGAN HES KINDA ANNOYING SOMETIMES… BUT WILL HE EVER FIGHT???
YO ANYONE KNOW OF ANY NEWS ON THAT UFC VIDEOGAME DUE OUT THIS YEAR?
@ Patrick
There was rumors that Rogan called out Wesley Snipes, but Snipes fled the country, so it didn’t happen.
However, I saw Snipes in the audience at UFC67, so maybe Joe will call him out again.
Joe Rogan has been doing standup comedy for a long time. That was his job before Fear Factor came along. I’ve seen him a couple times live and he’s pretty funny. He trains MMA with some respectable guys so he may have a little skill by now. He is a pretty small guy though at about 5′ 4″ or so. I’m not sure how big Snipes is but he seems bigger than Rogan.
SNIPES WOULD TEAR HIM UP
@Patrick
Hell, I just bought TAPOUT 2 on ebay! Can’t wait for the next one!
Sorry Patrick, but my money is on Joe. I saw him choke out a guy already, and by the way he comments on the fights, I can tell he knows what he’s talking about.
Snipes, on the other hand is a dancer, doing choreographed moves, directed to him, and stunt men are jumping out of the way playing like Wesley hit them……………BIG difference.
However, if you check out wesleysnipes.com, he claims to have a 5th degree black belt in capoeira.
IT MAY BE TRUE SNIPES MAY TEAR IT UP…. AND SNIPES FLED THE COUNTRY CUZ OF THAT TAX CRAP
@Patrick
Still don’t think so, because there’s no time to dance in the Octagon.
i still think that unless rampage takes a few warm up fights, the ice man will pick him apart, i dont see (other than money) that rampage has to rush to fight chuck, theres plenty to choose from in their weight division…………….wait a while build the hype.
also chuck has avenged all his losses bar rampage, he wants the fight sooner rather than later!
I think Rampage is really afraid to fight Chuck. You know he’s got to be studying Chucks fights. When he compares all those knock outs, to all his decisions, he’s gotta be trying to put the rematch off as long as possible.
However, he’s only obligated under UFC contract for one more fight. If Dana don’t put him in with Chuck now, he might miss the chance.
ive seen nearly all chucks fights, the guys got awesome power, his take down defence is one of the best in the game and he is still improving!
let them fight now, get it over and done, so we can see maybe jardine,griffin or even tito try there luck,
anyone think ken shamrock would match up well against jardine,griiffin or even rashaud??????
Dana has a reputation for not giving fighters title shots unless they are under a long term contract. I think they will both have at least one more fight each before the rematch. I would think that Dana would have Rampage finish out his old contract and sign him to at least a three fight extension before this fight would happen. Anyone fighting for the belt usually has to have a couple fights remaining so they don’t win the belt then leave for another organization. I’m sure Chuck wants this fight to happen as soon as possible before Quinton gets back into better shape and wins some confidence for himself by getting a couple of wins.
@Neil
You know, I used to like Ken, but after that last round of TUF, and his atrosities in the octagon with Tito, I’ve lost all faith in him.
In my opinion, even Rashad could knock him out now. He should retire for good, take the hall of fame, and finance a younger fighter.
Ken’s done. He shouldn’t have even been in the 2nd and 3rd rematch because he didn’t show anything to let people think he had a chance og winning. He needs to fight in the senior league with Severn, Royce and Kimo.
MAN SHAMROCK SUCKS
back to wwf for shamrock then!!!!
randy vs silvia - randy to win 3rd round, ground and pound. any opinions on that one. also id love to see randy vs arlovski, anyone else???
@Neil
I still stand on Randy vs. Rampage
Tim will KO Randy………..sorry, but I pull for Randy too, but we have to be realistic.
I don’t think Randy will get by Tim. Silva has a good reach and decent take down defence. I have a lot of respect for Randy and what he’s done for the sport but trying to make a come back in the heavy weight division right now is not good. Randy dosen’t seem to have the chin to take on the big guys. Chuck KO’d him twice with one punch and most of the good HW should hit even harder. Arlovski would beat him pretty easily in my opinion because I still think he’s a better fighter than Tim even though he lost the last couple. With Crocop in the UFC the HW division is a scary place to be right now. I would like to see Randy drop back down to light heavy and fight some of the up and comers there just not Chuck.
@mad / @dennis
i cant argue with wot u said! spot on, id still like to c randy knock 10 bells out of silvia tho.
u cant change my mind on chuck he will beat rampage when ever he fights him.
hillbilly how can u sit there and type that u think that rampage is afraid of chuck what makes u say that ooooohhhhh chuck has ko power so does rua so does wandy and those guys are scarrier (especial wandy hes just plain ugly) i know hes got ko by both of them but he stepped in there with them so i wouldnt say he is scared but its ur opionion and ur entitled to it and rampage will give chuck a fight u can believe that
i dont think rampage is scared of chuck, i just honestly belive chuck to be the better fighter but as we all no the better fighter dosnt always win!!!
i might be proved wrong at ufc71!
i was watching keith jardine fight last night and as far as match ups goes this guy is going to make a fight of it who ever he fights! i can see a real war if he fights chuck.
@***,
Ugly don’t win fights…
@Neil
Right, like I said before, there are two ways that Rampage can beat Chuck……one we all agree, lucky punch.
the other……..
Hell freezes over.