Liddell looks to put loss, questions behind him as he takes on Jardine at UFC 76
UFC president Dana White reckons Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell fell victim to a “rock-star lifestyle” when he lost his light-heavyweight title to Quinton (Rampage) Jackson in May at UFC 71.For his part, Liddell feels he just paid for a sloppy punch – a lazy left to the body that exposed his chin to a right cross. Jackson threw it and connected, nailing the champion.
On Saturday night, Liddell gets a chance to show he has put such bad habits behind him as he takes on Keith (The Dean of Mean) Jardine at UFC 76 at the Honda Center. It’s not as sexy a fight as Liddell versus Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva, but that mixed martial arts matchup awaits Liddell providing he wins Saturday.
And Jardine is a straightforward puncher who should be easy for Liddell to find in the cage. Someone is going down, hence the name of the card – Knockout.
“I plan on making it a short one,”Liddell said of the three-round fight. “Both of us are going to hit each other.
“We’ve both got big hands and both can kick pretty hard. I think there’s a good chance this thing is going to end in the first round.”
Now 37, Liddell lost some of his aura of invincibility when he was felled by Jackson. Jardine is a chance to show that he can still put people to sleep.
“I haven’t changed my training much,” he said. “We did work on some basic stuff, fixing some of my mistakes.
“I think John (trainer John Hackleman) let it go a little bit because I had been getting away with it for so long, doing some things. We just tried to shore those up a little bit.”
He also hired a chef to help with his diet. No word on whether the stripper’s pole was removed from his game room at his home in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The Iceman has denied that his lifestyle was a factor in the loss, although he has worked on restricting his schedule more.
He defended going out clubbing in Las Vegas the week of the Jackson fight.
“I drink water and I sit there until about 2:30 and 3. But I don’t sleep till 3 or 4 (a.m.) weeks of fights anyway . . . I haven’t drunk in a month by the time I get to a fight. And I probably drank a couple of times in three months by the time I get to a fight. So you know, it’s not about drinking or anything.”
Liddell (20-4) went into training after the Jackson fight before he even had an opponent. And he challenges anyone who thinks he is a pushover in the wake of the Jackson loss by saying: “I’m here. Come try.”
Jardine, 31, is also coming off a knockout loss. After looking impressive in battering Forest Griffin, Jardine was hammered by UFC newcomer Houston Alexander at UFC 71. The fight lasted just 48 seconds with Jardine crumpling from a series of vicious uppercuts and head shots, his mouthpiece tumbling out as he slumped to the canvas.
Alexander went on to pound Alessio Sakara at UFC 75 earlier this month, proving he is no one-hit wonder. But Jardine (12-4-1) says the Alexander loss was not representative.
“I believe I’m a better fighter than he is,”Jardine said. “I got caught and that’s the nature of the sport. He’s got heavy hands and apparently from his last fight . . . he’s the real deal.
“But I believe that before that fight I was on the right path and now I’m on the right path.”
Still Jardine says he has avoided the Internet after seeing “some disrespect” when the Liddell fight was announced.
“In my heart, I know that I’m at this level. Everyone in my camp knows I’m at this level. It’s just up to me performing Saturday and if I do perform, then a lot of people are going to be surprised.”
Unlike Liddell, Jardine has avoided watching the tape of his loss.
“I don’t care to, I just don’t care to,” he said. “I got hit like in 30 seconds, that’s the last thing I can remember so anything after that’s pretty inconsequential.”
Going after Liddell usually plays right into the ex-champion’s heavy hands and feet. Liddell is a terrific counter puncher who can generate power from all sorts of angles. Jardine can do damage with kicks and would be wise to unleash that part of his arsenal to keep Liddell honest.
The bookmakers have made Liddell a solid favourite. Gamblerspalace.com listed the ex-champion at minus-350. meaning you had to put down $350 to earn $100 profit. Jardine was at plus-225, meaning a bet of $100 will return $225 profit.
There are two other marquee fights on the card. Highly rated former Pride star Mauricio (Shogun) Rua makes his UFC light-heavyweight debut against Griffin while welterweight Diego Sanchez looks to rebound from a lacklustre loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 69 in April against a tough opponent in Jon Fitch.
Fitch (19-2-1) has won 13 straight fights and should have a size advantage over Sanchez (19-1) come Saturday night. He also trains with Koscheck in San Jose.
For Sanchez, Fitch is a chance to show he is back on track after leaving the Greg Jackson camp in Albuquerque, N.M. – where Jardine and former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre of Montreal train – to set up shop in San Diego.
Rua (16-2) will have to adjust to fighting in a cage instead of a ring and UFC rules that prevent foot stomps and soccer kicks. Griffin (14-4), meanwhile, must ignore his past bull-in-a-china-shop tendencies and resort to the smart, elusive game plan that saw him defeat Hector (Sick Dog) Ramirez at UFC 72 in June.
In another bout, solid light-heavyweight Lyoto Machida (10-0) faces Japan’s Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-6), another Pride veteran who lost to Rua last time out.
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