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I just finished reading Chuck Liddell's book Iceman: My Fighting Life. Just like the Gary Goodridge book I reviewed, this is a very apt title as very little of the book is about his upbringing, it's all about his fighting life. He talks about being raised by his single mother who always taught him to stand up for himself and his grandfather who also helped raise him and tough him how to throw a punch. His father was not a part of his life and Liddell refers to him as a "sperm donor," nothing more. Beyond that it's all about the fighting.
What I didn't like is that he offers virtually no dirt on anyone except his nemesis Tito Ortiz. No behind the scenes stories that would make anyone look bad. Those type of things are what I like most in a book and it's why Liddell's is my least favorite (though I still enjoyed it) of the four MMA books I have reviewed and posted about.
Here we go with the parts I found most interesting. The parts in quotes are word-for-word from the book.
"Normally it takes six to nine months to move up a class in each belt in karate. With three classes in each belt (white, green, brown and black), a student could spend nearly three years at each level. But by the time I was sixteen - after just four years in his dojo - Jack felt I was ready to take my black belt test."
"...I grew up and filled out between my fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays - jumping from five-nine, 155 pounds, to six-one, 186."
In high school: "That junior year the wrestling coach, who competed at my weight class in the local police league, challenged me to a match. If I won, the entire team could take off that day's conditioning drills; if he won, we had to do double the work: an extra set of sprints, an extra set of rope climbs, an extra round of wrestling without breaks... I pinned the coach in the first round."
The origin of his mohawk and tattoo on the side of his head: "During my senior year, in 1992, Eric and I were going to see a Slayer concert with a bunch of our roommates. We loved Slayer and wanted to do something crazy and memorable for the concert. Matt pulled out some electric shears and said, 'Hey, let's shave our heads.' ...But my senior year I had finally decided (to let my hair) grow out. So shaving my head wasn't exactly a crazy notion. We started throwing around some ideas; then Matt suggested I get a Mohawk. I thought, cool. That was the extent of the conversation... I figured that it wouldn't be too long before I had to get a real job and grow it out, so why not enjoy it until I graduated? That was my reasoning when I decided to get my head tattooed as well. I chose the Japanese letters that spelled Koei-Kan, my karate style, which means House of Peace and Prosperity. I wanted the tattoo to be somewhere everyone could see it without me having to take off my shirt, but also in a spot where I could hide it once I started interviewing."
For work after college Chuck was kickboxing, bar tending and teaching karate. As a kickboxer: "Even when I was the main attraction, I still wasn't making more than $500 a fight."
About Dana White: "In 1988 he was living in Boston, working as a bellman at a hotel... He joined Welch as a boxing coach, and they started doing classes for inner-city kids as well as a fitness program for people who didn't know anything about boxing. Dana was making about $50K a year working as a bellman and had a good life doing the boxing stuff on the side."
Chuck's favorite action movie is Best of the Best. His favorite drink is Patron.
His top 5 favorite fighters to watch: #5 Antonio Banuelos, #4 Glover Texeira, #3 GSP, #2 BJ Penn and #1 Matt Hughes.
At UFC 17, his UFC debut: "They paid me $1,000 - including expenses - and put me up in a Marriot or a Sheraton or someplace like that. When we had the weigh-ins, they used a bathroom scale, which made me laugh. If you know how to shift your weight right, the balance on the scale would change, and you could come in just over - or just underweight."
At IVC 6: "I had my first sponsor, the magazine Full Contact Fighter, which was paying me $500 to put its logo on the shorts I wore into the ring. Even better: Not only was I getting $1,000 to fight, I'd get another three grand for a win as long as I actually won the fight - that was more than what Nick would pay me in two or three kickboxing fights combined."
IVC 6: "The venue was a nightclub. When we walked in though the back door, we could see fighters bleeding from their noses, mouths, heads, and eyes getting stitched up in the kitchen. It was pretty crude, even for me, and looked like a butcher shop... (there was) blood everywhere you looked."
In 1999 Liddell and his friend put up $10,000 to open a kickboxing gym called SLO Kickboxing. Besides kickboxing they also taught weight training and martial arts. Within a year Liddell started earning $4,000 to $5,000 per month there.
"And their offer for me to fight after I won in UFC 22 wasn't all that appealing. They wanted a three-fight deal. I'd get $1,000 to fight the first match, plus another $1,000 if I won. Then $2,000 and $2,000 for the next fight, and $3,000 and $3,000 for the third fight." He didn't take the offer and ended up with a one-fight deal in the IFC for $4,500. "I weighted in at 195 the day of that fight, after dropping 19.5 pounds in eighteen hours."
What I didn't like is that he offers virtually no dirt on anyone except his nemesis Tito Ortiz. No behind the scenes stories that would make anyone look bad. Those type of things are what I like most in a book and it's why Liddell's is my least favorite (though I still enjoyed it) of the four MMA books I have reviewed and posted about.
Here we go with the parts I found most interesting. The parts in quotes are word-for-word from the book.
"Normally it takes six to nine months to move up a class in each belt in karate. With three classes in each belt (white, green, brown and black), a student could spend nearly three years at each level. But by the time I was sixteen - after just four years in his dojo - Jack felt I was ready to take my black belt test."
"...I grew up and filled out between my fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays - jumping from five-nine, 155 pounds, to six-one, 186."
In high school: "That junior year the wrestling coach, who competed at my weight class in the local police league, challenged me to a match. If I won, the entire team could take off that day's conditioning drills; if he won, we had to do double the work: an extra set of sprints, an extra set of rope climbs, an extra round of wrestling without breaks... I pinned the coach in the first round."
The origin of his mohawk and tattoo on the side of his head: "During my senior year, in 1992, Eric and I were going to see a Slayer concert with a bunch of our roommates. We loved Slayer and wanted to do something crazy and memorable for the concert. Matt pulled out some electric shears and said, 'Hey, let's shave our heads.' ...But my senior year I had finally decided (to let my hair) grow out. So shaving my head wasn't exactly a crazy notion. We started throwing around some ideas; then Matt suggested I get a Mohawk. I thought, cool. That was the extent of the conversation... I figured that it wouldn't be too long before I had to get a real job and grow it out, so why not enjoy it until I graduated? That was my reasoning when I decided to get my head tattooed as well. I chose the Japanese letters that spelled Koei-Kan, my karate style, which means House of Peace and Prosperity. I wanted the tattoo to be somewhere everyone could see it without me having to take off my shirt, but also in a spot where I could hide it once I started interviewing."
For work after college Chuck was kickboxing, bar tending and teaching karate. As a kickboxer: "Even when I was the main attraction, I still wasn't making more than $500 a fight."
About Dana White: "In 1988 he was living in Boston, working as a bellman at a hotel... He joined Welch as a boxing coach, and they started doing classes for inner-city kids as well as a fitness program for people who didn't know anything about boxing. Dana was making about $50K a year working as a bellman and had a good life doing the boxing stuff on the side."
Chuck's favorite action movie is Best of the Best. His favorite drink is Patron.
His top 5 favorite fighters to watch: #5 Antonio Banuelos, #4 Glover Texeira, #3 GSP, #2 BJ Penn and #1 Matt Hughes.
At UFC 17, his UFC debut: "They paid me $1,000 - including expenses - and put me up in a Marriot or a Sheraton or someplace like that. When we had the weigh-ins, they used a bathroom scale, which made me laugh. If you know how to shift your weight right, the balance on the scale would change, and you could come in just over - or just underweight."
At IVC 6: "I had my first sponsor, the magazine Full Contact Fighter, which was paying me $500 to put its logo on the shorts I wore into the ring. Even better: Not only was I getting $1,000 to fight, I'd get another three grand for a win as long as I actually won the fight - that was more than what Nick would pay me in two or three kickboxing fights combined."
IVC 6: "The venue was a nightclub. When we walked in though the back door, we could see fighters bleeding from their noses, mouths, heads, and eyes getting stitched up in the kitchen. It was pretty crude, even for me, and looked like a butcher shop... (there was) blood everywhere you looked."
In 1999 Liddell and his friend put up $10,000 to open a kickboxing gym called SLO Kickboxing. Besides kickboxing they also taught weight training and martial arts. Within a year Liddell started earning $4,000 to $5,000 per month there.
"And their offer for me to fight after I won in UFC 22 wasn't all that appealing. They wanted a three-fight deal. I'd get $1,000 to fight the first match, plus another $1,000 if I won. Then $2,000 and $2,000 for the next fight, and $3,000 and $3,000 for the third fight." He didn't take the offer and ended up with a one-fight deal in the IFC for $4,500. "I weighted in at 195 the day of that fight, after dropping 19.5 pounds in eighteen hours."
