When most people think of the UFC during the early mainstream emergence is has to be Chuck Liddell. Known as the Iceman, Liddell first appeared at UFC 17 and won twelve out of his last thirteen fights. He had brief hiccups with losses to Randy Couture and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Liddell went on a seven fight winning streak which saw him avenge his losses to Couture and an early career opponent Jeremy Horn on his four fight UFC Light Heavyweight title defense streak. In a rematch with Jackson, Liddell lost the title which began his final career skid. He lost five out of his last six fights before deciding to call it a career. Compared to most on this list Liddell had several ranks in multiple disciplines. He holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black belts in two styles of karate and was a division one NCAA wrestler at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Yet despite all of those accolades, the only skill that distinguished Liddell in his MMA career was his striking. His grappling background only severed to help him in take down and submission defenses. As with many veterans it was his striking that ended his career as others defeated him.
Matthew Salzer fell in love with Mixed Martial Arts when he watched Pride Fighting Championships on Japanese TV. He is a lifelong wrestler having earned a Bachelor of Science at Missouri Baptist University. Matthew is the Senior Editor at MMA Freak and has written for Funky Monkey MMA, H4 Entertainment, and MMA Fiends.
