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Liddell has connected against the best of the best, too. He's beaten a who's who of mixed-martial arts talent that includes former UFC champions and contenders such as Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Kevin Randleman, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Murilo Bustamante, Guy Mezger and on and on. He's even beaten a UFC Hall of Famer - twice. "It's no secret what Chuck's gonna do," says UFC Hall of Famer and reigning heavyweight champion Randy Couture. "The first time you see him knock somebody out, you think, ‘He got lucky.' Then, five fights later, it's still happening." Indeed, Liddell's punching style isn't the standard. His knockouts have come from every different angle, with swooping lefts, overhand rights and even backing away while an opponent comes in. Much of it generates from his wide-legged stance that is designed to defend the takedown, rather than a normal boxer's stance generated for power. With the ability to knock an opponent unconscious with either hand or foot, awkward angles and a wrestler's stance have never hindered his game. "You either have heavy hands or you don't," says White, a former amateur boxer.  When "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell enters a room, people take notice. Couture has felt the wrath of Liddell's heavy hands on two occasions in the final two fights of the UFC's most storied and profitable trilogy. But it was the first of their fights, one in which Couture won by TKO on June 6, 2003's UFC 43, that seemed to derail Liddell's rise to title - and superstar - status. After months of controversy involving the mega fight that was supposed to see Liddell battle then-champion and former training partner Tito Ortiz, a fight between Liddell and Couture for an interim title was set. Fresh off two losses in the heavyweight ranks, "The Natural" was seen as a stepping-stone for "The Iceman" on the way to forcing a fight with Ortiz. Liddell eventually got Ortiz and knocked him out in a blockbuster main event - but it came after both had been defeated by Couture. Then another opportunity looked to be lost to Liddell as he was approached to be one of the coaches - opposite Couture - in a realty series entitled "The Ultimate Fighter," set to air on Spike TV. But Liddell's management at the time advised him to hold out for more money. "I lost my mother-fucking mind," White recalls. But Liddell didn't. He decided to sign on, and in a bad business decision for the ages, Liddell's then-manager fired him. Consequently, Liddell, Couture, White, "The Ultimate Fighter" and the UFC blew up with popularity. "I knew once we got a TV deal we would blow up, I knew we needed to just get it out there - Thank God for reality TV," says Liddell, who has a Cal San Luis Obispo business degree to his credit. "[Not being a part of the show] would've been the biggest mistake." It was anything but a mistake for anyone involved. At the time, putting UFC fights - taped, live or otherwise - on television - was a controversial proposition, but two years and four seasons later, "The Ultimate Fighter" is now often credited as the turning point in the MMA boom. "Everybody was taking a gamble," Couture says. "That gamble paid off." The show led up to a rematch between Couture, the champion, and Liddell, the challenger. A first-round KO via Liddell on April 16, 2005 led the way for the UFC's pay-per-view juggernaut. With Liddell main-eventing three of the UFC's 10 pay-per-views in 2006, the company reportedly drew over $200 million in pay-per-view revenue. The record-shattering year concluded with another Iceman knockout of Ortiz in a super fight that more than 1 million viewers paid to see. "Chuck Liddell is on fire right now. He's like Mike Tyson of the 1980s where everyone is terrified of him," said UFC color commentator Joe Rogan shortly after that fight. "Anybody this guy hits, he can put to sleep." Even the bombastic and braggadocios Huntington Beach Badboy had to agree. "I have no excuses at all, Liddell's the man tonight," said Ortiz in a post fight interview. "He's the champ tonight and he'll be the champ for a while." That will be tested once again on May 26, when Liddell, who hasn't lost a fight in over three years, will defend his belt against the last man to defeat him - Quentin "Rampage" Jackson. The loss to Jackson is the only one in Liddell's career yet to be avenged. Since the setback in December of 2003 in the semifinals of PRIDE's Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament, Liddell has ascended into the prime of his career - age be damned. "This is the best I've ever been," the 37-year-old says. "He's a whole different fighter," Hackleman says. "Everything's better. His attitude. His training. Everything." That's the irony of the "Iceman." He's been "Punk'd" and he's been part of the "Entourage," appearing in episodes of both shows set to air in upcoming seasons on top of appearances in movies and talk shows like "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Jimmy Kimmel Show."
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