‘The Iceman’ Chuck Liddell was one of the first true superstars of the UFC. In fact, the former UFC light-heavyweight champion was among the first few prominent fighters to attract eyeballs to the sport of MMA. Liddell, though, is over 50 years of age now and has been enjoying his life.

Recently he appeared in a TikTok video showing off some slick dance moves. This was quite unexpected, considering the tough and brass persona of the legendary fighter, back in the day. But with time he has eased up on his behavior, we might guess.

China's Liu Wenbo winning the Legend FC Middleweight Championship at Legend FC 10. Founded in 2009, Legend Fighting Championship (Legend) was the Asia-Pacific championship of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Legend invited national champion MMA fighters from throughout the Asia-Pacific region to compete in a freestyle tournament using interdisciplinary martial arts skills in supervised matches. Miocic vs Ngannou. Sat, Mar 27 / 10:00 PM EDT / Main Card.

Liddell has been a part of the UFC from before the start of this millennium. He made his promotional debut at UFC 17 against Noe Hernandez. He also fought in PRIDE FC, beating legends like Alistair Overeem, Guy Mezger. He has had some legendary rivalries in the UFC against the likes of Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Quinton Jackson, and more.

His fights against Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz are still fresh in every fan’s memory. In fact, Liddell’s final bout as a professional came against Tito Ortiz under the Golden Boy MMA promotion. Liddell, a 48-year-old at that time, shouldn’t have competed in that fight as he was nowhere near fighting condition. He subsequently lost by knockout.

Also, ‘The Iceman’ had an unforgettable trilogy against ‘The Natural’ Randy Couture. After losing to Couture at UFC 43, Liddell avenged those losses at UFC 52 and UFC 57, knocking Couture out on both occasions.

But Liddell has won only once since his 2006 win over Tito Ortiz. He defeated Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79, which was his last win as a professional MMA fighter.

Top Ufc Fighters

Should Chuck Liddell have fought Tito Ortiz in 2018?

Liddell retired in 2010 after his UFC 115 loss to former UFC champion Rich Franklin, leaving a big hole in the sport. But the superstar decided to come back in 2018 out of nowhere to fight Tito Ortiz. Liddell was an old man who had lost his speed, vicious power, and every single attribute by then.

It was visible as he got knocked out in the first round of the fight. Nevertheless, ‘The Iceman’ will always remain a legend in the eyes of fight fans.

What did you make of Chuck Liddell’s recent dance video? Did he make a mistake in returning to competition in 2018? Let us know your thoughts.

Continue the conversation on the app, join other MMA fans on MMA Fans App

Legend Fighting Championship (Legend FC) started as a Hong Kong-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation which invited national champion fighters from throughout the Asia-Pacific to compete for regional supremacy. Legend was unique among MMA tournaments in that it focused exclusively on native Asia-Pacific fighters.^[1] The company was sold in April 2014 to Kwokman Productions.^[2] The promotion re-launched in September 2018 as a China-based organization.^[3]

About Legend[edit]

Founded in 2009, Legend Fighting Championship (Legend) was the Asia-Pacific championship of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Legend invited national champion MMA fighters from throughout the Asia-Pacific region to compete in a freestyle tournament using interdisciplinary martial arts skills in supervised matches under a strict set of rules designed to promote athlete safety and sportsmanship. Legend was committed to promoting the sport of MMA throughout the region, to supporting and cultivating its athletes, and to providing exceptional entertainment to a broad audience.

Legend held its first event in January 2010 at Star Hall in Hong Kong in front of an audience of just over 1,000 fans. From this modest start, Legend has grown into one of the most well-known elite-level MMA competitions in the Asia-Pacific, with an international broadcast and some of the top fighters in the region on its roster.

In spring 2011, Legend signed an agreement with Macau mega-resort and casino City of Dreams to produce an ongoing series of MMA tournaments, under the title “City of Dreams exclusively presents Legend Fighting Championship.”^[4] The first event of this partnership took place on July 16, 2011.

In January 2012, Legend Fighting Championship announced the signing of an exclusive distribution and syndication agreement with ESPN International (ESPN). Under the terms of the agreement, ESPN will serve as the sole distribution agent of all Legend broadcast content in Asia, Oceania, the Indian sub-continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Legend's new partners have refocused the company specifically on Chinese fighters and the Chinese market, in terms of both fight cards and the content they will produce. Legend re-launched with a fight card in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in September 2018.^[5]

In June 2019, Legend announced its return to Macau, China on September 14, 2019 at the MGM Theater in Cotai.^[6]

TV broadcast[edit]

On the heels of their successful first event, Legend signed a broadcast agreement with KIX (an Asian action TV channel and subsidiary of Tiger Gate Entertainment) to broadcast its MMA competitions in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Since then, Legend has signed agreements with broadcasters in China, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada.^[7]

In October 2012, Legend signed an agreement with Sony Pictures Television networks for them to broadcast Legend Fighting Championship on AXN in 21 territories across the region.^[8]

In November 2012, Legend Fighting Championship and ESPN International announced a broadcast agreement to bring the Asia-Pacific Championship of Mixed Martial Arts to ESPN television and broadband channels in 109 countries in Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and cruise ships in these territories.

In North America Legend is broadcast on Pay-Per-View and Video-On-Demand on all the major Pay-Per-View providers and also holds the distinction of being the first sports organisation from China to be featured on North American Pay-Per-View.^[9]

China consists of one of the biggest audiences for Legend. In China alone, Legend is available to more than 600 million viewers nationwide.^[10] Legend events are also broadcast in China on major video portals Tencent, Weibo, Youku, Zhibo and others.^[11] Additional broadcast partners include Guangdong TV, Shenzhen TV, and various other networks in China.

Worldwide, Legend is broadcast in 279 million homes in 152 countries via 22 broadcast partners including AXN in SE Asia, ESPN International and all major pay-per-view operators in the US and Canada.^[12]

Company background[edit]

Legend was co-founded by Mike Haskamp and Chris Pollak, former classmates and Rugby teammates at Columbia Business School.^[13] Pollak spent eight years at management consultancy McKinsey & Company, primarily in their media group. Haskamp was formerly an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. The partners started running the company out of a shared apartment in Hong Kong in late 2009.

In July 2011, Legend closed a venture capital investment from CA Media and Diamond Ridge Ventures.^[14] CA Media is a fund focused on media and entertainment businesses throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It was founded by Peter Chernin (former President and COO of News Corporation) and Paul Aiello (former CEO of STAR TV and head of media investment banking at Morgan Stanley Asia). Diamond Ridge is a sports and media investment fund.

After taking a hiatus and securing new partners, Legend re-emerged with Matthew Kwok as its Chairman. Kwok was the original content and broadcast producer for Legend, and the founder of Kwokman Productions.^[5] In early 2019, Legend announced additional partnerships with athlete manager Audie Attar from Paradigm Sports Management, and Berjaya Assets Bhd, one of Malaysia's largest conglomerates.^[15]

Rules[edit]

Legend competitions take place in an eight-sided MMA arena called the 'Ba Fang'.^[16]

Legend contest rules are a hybrid of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and Pride-style MMA rules. Some of the rules unique to Legend are:

• No elbow drops.

• All contests (including championship fights) are three rounds of five minutes duration.

• There are no draws at Legend. If two fighters are tied on points on a judge's scorecard at the end of three rounds, the judge must make a determination as to which fighter he/she believes won the overall fight.

Weight divisions[edit]

▪ Bantamweight: Under 50 kilograms

▪ Featherweight: 50 to 60 kilograms

▪ Lightweight: 60 to 70 kilograms

▪ Welterweight: 70 to 80 kilograms

▪ Middleweight: 80 to 90 kilograms

▪ Light Heavyweight: 90 to 100 kilograms

▪ Heavyweight: Over 100 kilograms

Past Legend champions[edit]

List of events[edit]

Women Ufc Fighters

References[edit]

1. ^'Mixed Martial Arts Back in Hong Kong - China Real Time Report - WSJ'. Blogs.wsj.com. 2010-06-24. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
2. ^'UFCs signs Chinese stars Li Jingliang and Jumabieke Tuerxun'. Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
3. ^Lee, Madalyn (2018-09-24). 'Legend FC reemerges with a new mission: Growing MMA in China'. The Fight Nation. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
4. ^Nelson, Chris (2011-06-01). 'Legend FC Partners with Macau Mega-Resort; July 16 Card Announced'. Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
5. ^ ^abScott, Mathew (2019-03-20). 'MMA Alters Faces of Asian Sports Broadcasting'. Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
6. ^https://www.businessinsider.sg/legend-fighting-championship-returns-to-macau-at-mgm-cotai/
7. ^'Legend Fighting Championship > Broadcast > Australia > Pay-Per-View'. Legendfc.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
8. ^'Legend Fighting Championship to air on Sony's AXN - Sports Broadcast news - Martial Arts Asia'. SportsPro Media. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
9. ^'Canada added to list of countries for Legend FC 4 pay-per-view'. Pro MMA Now. 2011-01-23. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
10. ^'UFC on Fuel 6: Will the UFC Invasion of China Sink the Rising Asian MMA Market?'. Bleacher Report. 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
11. ^'武林传奇-亚太综合格斗冠军赛直播_PPTV网络电视_精彩无限PPTV视频专题'. Sports.pptv.com. 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
12. ^'Hong Kong-based Legend FC Expands its Reach'. English.cri.cn. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
13. ^Nelson, Chris (2011-01-26). 'Building a Legend: Hong Kong MMA Hits U.S. PPV'. Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
14. ^'CA Media Invests in Legend Fighting Championship'. Media Research Asia.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
15. ^'Legend FC announces new strategic partners'. Asia MMA. 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
16. ^'BAFANG'. Legend Fighting Championship. Retrieved 2019-05-30.

External links[edit]