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On Saturday, the foundation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship was rocked once again. With a devastating right hook, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson knocked Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell unconscious, the capacity MGM Grand Arena crowd into awe and the sport of mixed-martial arts into further confusion. With all due respect to Randy Couture, Liddell was the biggest name in all of mixed-martial arts, a genuine sports superstar. He was the guy the casual fan followed, he was the man leading the UFC's overwhelming surge in popularity. What now? On Saturday Feb 3, I met "The Iceman" and encountered "Rampage" for the first time. Jackson made his UFC debut that night. After his knockout win against Marvin Eastman, he was the highlight of the press conference. He cracked jokes. Everybody laughed. He jokes about "whoopin' ass," making "chedda," how bad his trainer's breath is and everything that is black and white and in between. As the press conference dragged on, I found myself concentrating more on Jackson's reactions to what everybody else was saying than the questions and answers themselves. He caught me laughing with him, grinned and tapped his wrist, indicating just how much he couldn't wait to get out of there. I raised an imaginary drink to my mouth. He countered by bringing an imaginary fork to his mouth. I wanted a drink, he wanted something to eat. I chuckled at the exchange and thought to myself just how charismatic the guy was.  Quinton "Rampage" Jackson stripped Chuck Liddell of his belt Saturday night. Later that night, I quenched my thirst at Studio 54 along with hundreds of others, including Liddell. It was a night I'll never forget, at least the stuff I'm able to remember. I was in Las Vegas to interview the then-UFC light heavyweight champion of the world and got more than I bargained for. He was a superstar that was down to earth, generous, accommodating, friendly and on and on. There were gorgeous women, frenzied fans, celebrities - and Liddell was like any one of my buddies that I grew up with. Perhaps I'm making too big a deal out of the whole situation, but I believe my dad put it into context when he said, "I think it's a big deal, you met someone you always rooted for and found out he was an even nicer guy in real life than you thought." That's the thing, I'm 28 now. Aren't I too old to have "favorites?" My hero Walter Payton, God bless him, passed away a long time ago, Don Mattingly is still in pinstripes, but it's as a coach, and Charles Barkley is still talking about basketball like no other, he's just not playing it. Those were my favorites as a kid. You're supposed to outgrow that phase, though. Right? But, just as I root for my Chicago Bears and New York Yankees, I root for Chuck Liddell. Still, when I found out that Liddell and Jackson would step back into combat with each other, I thought to myself, "If anyone beats Chuck, it might as well be Rampage." That thought process didn't change anything on Saturday. With my buddies and I gathered around the television, we shouted in disbelief as Jackson dethroned Liddell in less than two minutes. Well, they shouted, I was in silent disbelief. The most unbelievable thing wasn't that Liddell lost, but that it happened so quickly. It was supposed to be a war. Instead it was a perfect punch landed. Just so happened it was about the only punch that landed. Liddell circled Jackson, threw some jabs, a right here, an exchange there and then BOOM! Liddell looped a left to the body and Jackson countered with a sweeping right that knocked Liddell to the ground. Jackson pounced, hitting a downed Liddell with a barrage of fists, an elbow mixed in that made Liddell go limp and two more shots, the last of which seemed to wake up a dazed former champion. "What happened?" a groggy Liddell could be seen asking longtime friend and trainer John Hackleman, who simply hugged Liddell. The fight was a shock to everyone. "The first fight was a war, Chuck is tough as hell," said Jackson in the post fight press conference, referencing their 2003 fight in Japan. "I gotta keep it real, I was real shocked that the fight went that quick."
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