What did we see in the first fight? That Rampage is not afraid to take it to Chuck, take a shot to get inside and crack the Iceman over the head with a left hook or over hand right. He has the strength to put Chuck down on the mat and to finish him.
What has changed since then? Rampage has been on the losing end of some brutal KO losses while Chuck has improved in several keys areas, one being conditioning the other being footwork and the ability to counter while backing up.
I see Liddell winning this time with possibly the cage being an advantage for him this time, but will not be at all surprised if Rampage embarrasses him again.
2007-03-11 17:19:50 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Martial Arts
I don't like to refer to old fights and to who beat who, but the fight will play out much differently this time around. This time, they're in a cage, Chuck's turf. Last time was in a tournament in Japan, and this time it's a title fight, so each fighter only has to focus on one opponent. Rampage had jitters his first fight in the UFC, and the Iceman gets his name from being super cool. He also has revenge on his mind, so I'd give him the psychological advantage.
As for conditioning, it's a toss up. Chuck has looked great in his past fights, and Rampage is training with a better team than he had in his recent outings.
Rampage won their first outing by taking the fight to Chuck. No one since has proved that they can stand with the champ (he has however, fought mostly wrestlers since). If Rampage follows the same strategy, he will be knocked out. Rampage should look to get inside following combinations and get Chuck into the clinch. Throw some big knees and take the wind out of the Iceman. Then, once he gets to the mat, he'll be primed for a ground and pound.
Chuck should come out on the offensive. Everyone expects him to counter, and Rampage will use this to get Chuck to the fence and then to the ground. The Iceman will avoid high kicking to prevent a takedown, but should utilize the lower kicks to take apart Rampage's strength. The low kicks will set up a big right hand or left hook, putting Rampage out cold.
I'd like to see Chuck win this one and then move on to some different fighters. It would be great to see him step up to heavyweight and take on Couture and CroCop, or have Silva step up to challenge for the belt. Once Chuck beats Rampage, who else is there? Chuck by TKO in the second round...
2007-03-11 18:59:15 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not a fan of Chuck Liddell but I would have to agree with most of what you said. Yes Liddell has inproved since that KO lost in Pride while Rampage has been brutalized by both Shogun Rua & Wanderlei Silva. Perhaps the whole "cage fighting" vs fighting in a squared circle is an adjustment Rampage still needs to make, that and getting used to the American MMA rules versus the Japanese MMA rules. Rampage isn't intersted in Chuck until he gets at least one more fight in the cage but now is when he should be all over Chuck since Chuck hasn't been training hard due to an pneumonia he has.
2007-03-12 13:24:35 · answer #2 · answered by scorpion187us 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, you've got to understand the fact that the UFC is Chuck's house. During the last fight, Chuck Liddel wasn't as popular as he is today, and the energy didn't necessarily swing in his favor. In this day and age, Chuck Liddel is one of the most popular athletes in the world today; not to mention, he gets alot of EXTRA sponsorship and praise from UFC President Dana White, and for good reason.
They don't call Liddel "The Iceman" for no reason. I expect him to have the psychological edge going into this fight by a big margin, while at the same time staying cool and not getting cocky or overconfident, for these things are not in Chuck's character. Now some might think that since Rampage has beaten Chuck before, Rampage would actually have the psychological edge going into the fight. And that may have been the case if Chuck Liddel had been beating up average fighters for the past several years, but guess what; thats not the scenario. Chuck Liddel has been undefeated for around 4 years, with 4 clean sweep title defenses.
However, you'd be a fool if you count out the much younger Rampage Jackson. In my oppinion, I think Rampage's standup punching skills are BETTER than chucks. His punches are fast, powerful, crisp, precise, and clean. His footwork is excellent, and he's very agile for a 6 foot 1, 205 pound man. By comparison, I think Chuck Liddel's standup kickboxing style is a little bit open and unorthodox next to Jackson's, and if Chuck gets too sloppy, Rampage will shut him down. Liddel's wide and loopy punching style has been extremely effective thus far, but as he said himself; he is not interested in changing his style for anyone, and if Rampage Jackson can box off Chuck just like Randy Couture did in his first bout with Liddel at UFC Meltdown: Chuck Liddel might find himself with some problems.
Bottom line is that Chuck needs to utilize his extensive experience and also be confident in the fact that he is a veteran in the prime of his career. Obviously he needs to be cautious of Rampage, and depending on how Rampage feels on fight night, he might be able to take Chuck down pretty easily if he is able to close the distance and get inside of Chuck's wide-looping punching style. Ultimately Chuck needs to do what he does best, and thats throw hard punches from unpredictable angles. But he needs to mix it up, utilize his straight front kick to keep Quinton out of grappling range, and make sure these big shots come in at unorthodox angles, and at unpredictable times.
2007-03-12 01:34:22 · answer #3 · answered by Sir 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since that fight Liddel has been almost flawless, and Rampage has taken some big time beatings from silva, and Shogun.
1. Chuck will be better prepared for rampage.
2. I think rampage's better days are behind him,because most people are never the same after taking those type of beatings .
My prediction is that chuck KO's rampage in the 2nd round.
2007-03-12 01:01:21 · answer #4 · answered by gonz 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This fight will play out very differnet from the 1st fight because it is in a cage rather than a ring. Chuck has great takedown defense and when he does get taken down (which rampage will try slam him Im sure) Chuck is very effective at using the fence to get back to his feet. In the first round I expect to see Rampage to alot of "feeling out", because Chucks last two opponents have tried to rush him and Chuck is a counter-puncher so Rampage needs to find a way to get Chuck to come after him and over commit (maybe try something like scott smith vs pete sell) but Rampage is no longer on the same level as the Iceman when it comes to stand-up and he would be smart to try and take him to the ground, how I dunno everyone has tried and they've all failed.
2007-03-12 00:52:27 · answer #5 · answered by Joseph B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Quintons overhand right stifled chucks jab the last time and left him nothing to set up with, he got caught like 3 or 4 times with it, if Jackson remembers then he should do that to see if he can plug him up again, but then again he could now be outta Chuck's league, but he would be an underdog and the crowd would boo him and he'd love it....fuel for the fire. everyone will tell him he's gonna get beat, and that'll make or break him.......I don't really like Jackson but I don't like chuck more........
2007-03-12 04:03:12 · answer #6 · answered by Tapout 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lets think back.
Wanderlei Sylva vs. Rampage: HUGEKO Wanderlei win
Wanderlei Sylva vs. Tito Ortiz : Tito win wtf?
Wanderlei Sylva vs. Dan Henderson: Henderson win KO
Chuck vs Tito x 2: Duhhh
if Wanderlei can't handle Tito, and Rampage can't handle Wanderlei, then do the ******* math on this one, Iceman wins by default, FIN
2007-03-12 01:10:08 · answer #7 · answered by Whitaker 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋