10 MMA Fights That Were The Beginning Of The End For Legends

1. Chuck Liddell Vs. Keith Jardine - UFC 76

It's hard not to love the famed Ice Man of MMA. A charismatic everyman with explosive KO ability, Liddell was just first and foremost fun to watch.

Chuck had spent the prior years on a tear that included big wins over fellow icons such as Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, and Randy Couture. But unfortunately for Liddell, that was all soon to change at UFC 76.

Four months prior to this, Chuck was on the receiving end of one of the great MMA knockouts as 'Rampage' Jackson put Liddell down after mere minutes of the first round to claim The Ice Man's UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 71. That loss was a spectacular one, but it was a defeat to Keith Jardine at UFC 76 that was a true signal that Chuck Liddell wasn't the Chuck Liddell he once was.

Originally, Liddell was due to fight the iconic Wanderlei Silva at UFC 76 before that contest was scrapped. Instead, Jardine stepped up to the plate as a major underdog against Chuck. After a promising start full of right hands failed to stop Jardine, Liddell began to struggle as the fight went on. By the time that the three-round fight had reached its conclusion, Keith Jardine left the MMA world rocked as he claimed a split decision victory over the legendary Chuck Liddell.

The Ice Man would follow this up with a win over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79 - although The Axe Murderer himself was already in decline by then - but Liddell then had three brutal losses in a row, before making a return last November to be on the end of an embarrassing first-round loss to Tito Ortiz.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.