NEWS: The Iceman: A Retrospective

The mohawk. The mustache. The backpedaling, screaming celebrations.

The head kick. The wall walk. The overhand right.

Randy Couture. Tito Ortiz. Wanderlei Silva.

A fighter’s fighter. A UFC champion. An MMA icon.

There are near endless ways for someone to remember Chuck Liddell. His 12-year career is among MMA’s finest, as Liddell fought and beat a veritable who’s who of the sport’s star-studded light heavyweight division. Along the way, he turned in some of the game’s most indelible memories, whether they were triumphant wins, crushing defeats or classic battles. He became MMA’s first true superstar in North America, his rise inextricable and intimately intertwined with the rapid rise of the UFC and MMA on the whole.

On Dec. 29, “The Iceman” finally called it a career, hanging up his four-ouncers and preparing to settle into a role as Zuffa LLC’s executive vice president of business development. As the 205-pound legend turns over a new leaf to the corporate world, Sherdog.com staff members and contributors weigh in on their most vivid memories, reflections and appraisals of Liddell’s trials, triumphs and importance to MMA.

Jordan Breen: UFC 43, just days after my 16th birthday, was my first live UFC experience. The event was bizarre enough, between the Frank Mir-Wes Sims debacle and Matt Lindland knocking himself out. That was before the epically awful video intro Chuck got courtesy of the late Charles “Mask” Lewis. The video and subsequent Vanilla Ice metal remix left me in shock, a sense that continued as I watched an afterthought underdog Randy Couture dominate “The Iceman.” That night, I wondered if Liddell might settle into a bridesmaid role, a Top 10 fighter who just couldn’t get over the hump. If someone had showed me a vision of the future -- ESPN The Magazine, “Entourage,” “Good Morning Texas” and all the rest -- I’m not sure I would’ve believed it. For me, the adversity Liddell faced en route to becoming MMA’s first crossover superstar made it much sweeter to watch.

Wojek Rysiewski: Chuck had a remarkable role in elevating UFC’s popularity in the U.S and will be undoubtedly remembered as one of the legends of the sport. However, as a European, I always viewed his accomplishments from a Pride-UFC rivalry perspective, with Wanderlei Silva being his ultimate foe. Each of their wins increased my hunger for this dream light heavyweight matchup. Even though the fight finally happened when they were both past their primes, I will never forget the moment they entered the Octagon and Chuck gave the last highlight performance of his career.

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