UFC 79: CHUCK’S BACK, IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Posted on | January 15, 2008 | 1 Comment

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Note: this piece has somehow disappeared from our database, so we’re replacing it now.

UFC 79: CHUCK LIDDELL vs. WANDERLEI SILVA
YEARS-IN-THE-MAKING – THE LEGENDS FINALLY MEET

If you missed UFC 79 I do feel sorryfor you; especially if you’re an MMA fan and missed it for reasons not under your control. I ended that evening feeling the most satisfied I have felt all year after a UFC/MMA event. I have to admit most of my enjoyment mainly stemmed from watching Chuck Liddell cost me money.

Chuck Liddell fought Wanderlei Silva. After Liddell’s last two fights I had come to the conclusion that Chuck was not the same Chuck we used to know and therefore I had picked and bet on Wanderlei to win. Chuck just seemed to have been lacking any sort of real technique and had been failing to really mix it up and show any kind of well-rounded MMA skills. Instead, Chuck had basically just been throwing punches; and even then he had
stopped throwing the big overhand right that had dropped so many men before. So I picked Silva to KO Chuck.

One thing I knew for sure. One of these men were going to sleep and most likely it would be Chuck Liddell.

But two things happened I had not considered. First off, Chuck Liddell was obviously EXTREMELY motivated
for this fight to the point that he re-invented himself and his whole game.

And secondly, Wanderlei Silva has a chin made of granite.

Chuck Liddell did what I thought was impossible. He showed himself to be a completely well-rounded MMA master. I always heard Chuck had wrestling skills and of course knew that Chuck posessed more than punching power and some kicks, although for most of 2007 he showed us nothing that would make us think he was little more than an amatuer boxer.

I had picked Wandy to win and wanted Wandy to win because honestly I thought Chuck had let us down. But during the fight my emotions changed as I saw this NEW Chuck Liddell begin to emerge. His movements were fluid, he began throwing low and high kicks and then it happened…Chuck Liddell threw an elbow that looked completely instinctual and it cut Wanderlei immediately like he had just slashed him with a prison-yard shank.

Then they clinched, Chuck took Wandy’s leg and then TOOK WANDY DOWN and tried to do a little ground and pound but Wandy avoided the damage and they both got back to their feet. I had never seen a live fight where Chuck took someone to the ground. I saw a video of him doing it many years ago against an opponent but never had seen it live and frankly didn’t even know it was possible.

I remember conciously thinking during this fight that this is the closest thing I’ve seen to true Gladiators battling it out ever. It really is modern day Gladiators putting it all on the line. Man against man, toe-to-toe for all the marbles. Wandy was swinging and landed some vicious shots and so was Chuck. Chuck actually went down twice in the fight but both times appeared to me to be from slips though at the time I thought Wandy had dropped him.

Chuck has never hit anyone as much and as hard as he hit Wanderlei Silva, and they both survived some vicious shots.

Wandy trains to take punches and toughen his skin and it works because that guy took some incredible shots and much to his credit he never backed down. Wanderlei Silva has the heart of a lion and a warrior.

Wandy basically got into a mind frame of having a slug fest with Chuck and he went balls out swinging and kept coming at Chuck. But I think that was also his downfall because he didn’t mix it up enough. It was all punches and kicks from Wandy; no takedowns no submission attempts, no wrestling or ju-jitsu; not even elbows; just punches and kicks. Wandy clearly wanted to knockout Chuck and wouldn’t settle for anything else, whereas Chuck was able to see a bigger picture and knew that even more important than a knockout was a win. Chuck tried for over two rounds to knock out Wanderlei Silva and when it didn’t happen he had the wits to know that to get the win was still the main objective. And he made that happen.

This was a rennassaince Chuck Liddell; a Chuck Liddell that frankly I had given up hope that would ever exist. He proved me and alot of other doubters wrong. Chuck Liddell threw right and left hand strikes. He threw the looping overhand rights that so many now imitate. He threw low and high kicks. He threw elbows that cut.
And for the love of all that’s holy, with about twenty seconds left in the match, Chuck Liddell shot in and took Wanderlei Silva to the ground!! And even tried a little ground and pound.

To see Chuck Liddell reinvent himself live in front of the whole world I think was the greatest accomplishment
of the night. It was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in my life and my favorite fight of the year.

At first I was bummed that it didn’t end in a KO. In my wildest dreams I would have never guessed this fight would go the distance. But, in the end I realized that it’s actually better that I didn’t have to see one of these warriors get knocked out. They both stood toe-to-toe to the very end and I think I would have felt alot worse if either Wandy or Chuck had been KO’d.

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