The Iceman Cometh... undone!

It had to happen, so why not in this year of the upset in the UFC? Quinton "Rampage" Jackson KO'd Chuck "the Iceman" Liddell to win the UFC light heavyweight championship. Liddell had won seven straight fights, including five title defenses. In the end, "Rampage" was the better man, and remains the only fighter to whom Liddell has lost more than one fight. The UFC has had four straight main event upsets now, with Liddell becoming the third champion to lose his belt: former heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia lost to Randy "The Natural" Couture, former welterweight champion George St. Pierre lost to Matt Serra, and in a non-title fight, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic lost to Gabriel Gonzaga, who earned the right to fight Couture for the championship with the victory. In those fights, only the Couture-Sylvia fight went the distance, with each of the other three ending in stunning fashion — literally — in the first round. There have been a few other upsets of heavily favoured fighters in under card matches at each of the fights that effectively prove the maxim that you can never underestimate your opponent.


I had hoped for each of the losing fighters to win (note to reader: never trust me with a racing tip or a poker bet :-)), although I must confess that I actually felt that St. Pierre would lose based on his demeanour and body language when he came out to the ring. I thought that Liddell might lose, just because Jackson is that good. I wasn't nearly as sure how things might turn out between Cro Cop and Gonzaga, but I was completely shocked by the way Gonzaga knocked out Cro Cop - with a high head kick that one would have expected to happen the other way around!

It's good to see that there is so much competition in the UFC, and that every fight seems to be less of a sure thing. That's what keeps it interesting, after all.