Chuck Liddell was the right man at the right time for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and became one of the central figures in moving mixed martial arts towards mainstream acceptance.
A fierce competitor who made the spectacular commonplace in victory and defeat, Liddell was the class of the light heavyweight division for the better part of a decade. He left a number of celebrated victims in his wake during a historic run that included two seven-fight winning streaks in the UFC. “The Iceman” made his Octagon debut at UFC 17 on May 15, 1998, went on to become a pay-per-view magnet and reached the height of his power in December 2006, when he fought former training partner Tito Ortiz for a second time in the UFC 66 main event to the tune of more than one million PPV buys.