Where does Chuck Liddell ranks All-Time in UFC LHW division?

[Killer Kadoogan]

chuck liddell, the ice man, blue shorts, is one of the mythical, legendary LHWs of the UFC without a doubt. can't think of another LHW with solid wins over Randleman, Mezger, Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, Babalu, Tito, Randy, Horn, all in their primes too. He's definitely in the top five. It's got to be, in terms of pure dominance, Jon Jones, Shogun, Randy, Chuck, Rampage, something like that. I'd place him number 4 in a hypothetical top 5.

 

[BOTTICELLI]

Top 5 and its not up for debate. A true pioneer, too tough for his own good, da Ice MAN !

 

[TheTickG]

UFC top 3 is Tito, Chuck, and DC. Not sure the order.

Jones is obviously excluded due to his cheating throughout his career.

 

[Neck&Neck]

One month till The Shavkat feasts on some stale wonderbread crumbs

 

[BowserJr]

Skillwise or in terms of beating all time great LHWs he's maybe #6

Jbj
DC
Shogun
Rampage
Machida
Chuck

In terms of lh legacy he's #3
Jbj
Shogun
Chuck

In terms of overall mma legacy for a LHW fighter #5

Jbj
DC
Shogun
Rampage
Chuck

 

[Royce Greasy]

IDK, after the UFC loss to Rampage his career came off the rails - gotta take that into account.


I think Frank Shamrock should definitely be included in the conversation - as basically a welterweight, he handled bigger fighters like Tito Ortiz, Enson Inoue, Vernon White, Jeremy Horn (even Bas once wayyyyy back).

The man was a pioneer and a prototype with a well rounded ground and standup game.

Frank was incredible sickening how he is not even considered by anyone but he is no WW more like people decided to start cutting weight and not fight at their natural weights because really Wanderlei is only an inch taller than Frank but no one suggests that he should fight as a WW.

Frank also beat Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Kevin Jackson a Gold medalist wrestler in like 10 seconds and he ended Igor Zinoviev career I think he could beat Shogun, Wanderlei, Liddell and most of them he was the guy that always found a way to win and was not 1 dimensional.

 

[Haj01]

Chuck is a living legend.

 

[cade187]

IMHO he is top 5. number one is obvious LOL... after that it gets murky, DC is a clear number 2. shogun is 3, after that? idk man.

I’d rank Shogun above Chuck in terms of MMA, but specifically in the UFC I have Chuck at number 3, with an argument for 2 (because DC fought more at HW than LHW).

 

[LostMyBlackBelt]

Since this is UFC only, here is my list:

5. DC
4. Evans
3. Belfort
2. Liddell
1. Jones *

Jones has an * because he was caught cheating. Most of the PrideFC guys had a lot more fights in Pride compared to UFC. Difficult for them to beat out resumes from fighters who fought most of their careers in the UFC. If we could add in complete careers the list would look a lot different.

What could Rashad possibly do to beat DC???

 

[snugglecakes]

Not even single digits and you are coping if you think otherwise

...but close maybe hovering top 10-15 or am i coping?

...just think how figured the fuck out prime chuck would be by everybody in theoretical prime vs prime after life tournament. The guy was 1 fight removed from being the champ to being blind to leg kicks from a sardine on his way to a 1-5 run.

ALL time greats dont have a downfall this rapid. That's just a guy getting exposed right there. Dont lie to yourself. Chuck is like the migel torres of LHW. You dont go from champ to chump overnight unless there's something else going on such as jobber divisions becoming better overnight by buying pride & doing LHW tournaments called TUF instantly finding multiple people better than prime chuck that were there all along.

Overnight the LHW goes from not even having enough people to even create a top 10 to having something semi resembling a division then chuck gets KOed left n right.

 

[adambomb]

If we are talking purely things like prestige, resume, impacet, etc -- then easy top 5. JBJ is the clear #1 and its likely that DC is #2. It's tough to argue placing anyone else above Liddell so that puts him no higher than #3 with really only Shogun making an argument to be placed above him.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

UFC only he's number 2. If we include all MMA I have him at 5th but an argument can be made for 4th.

 

[MEAN357]

Why is DC a clear #2? Rumble twice, Gustafsson, old man Hendo, old man Silva, Oezdemir and a guy signed just so DC could fight on a card after his original fight fell through. Personally I don't see how that's better than Rampage, Couture, Evans or Shogun

I think time and how annoying he can be on the mic is fading your memory a bit. DC was a fucking monster in his prime, who else but Bones would've beat him at LHW?

Can't think of anyone else more suited to the #2 or #3 spot honestly

 

[nonoob]

Chuck beat Randleman, Overeem, Mezger, Belfort, Sobral, Tito, and Bustamante in non title fights. Plus Chuck had more title wins as well. Easily Chuck > DC at LHW.

Chuck towers over DC in UFC, not even close imo.

He beat the top guys in the division in the promotion for what, 5 years?

Ranking his legacy as a UFC light heavyweight, he's top 3. He beat the top guys in the division in the promotion for what, 5 years? Until the combination of age and talent got him.

NO Question. Even while Tito was killing it as champ, he didn't want ANY of prime Chuck.

 

[maartenjackie]

Top 5 without a doubt. Stop comparing today fighters with old school mofos.

 

[r-harper-1]

I have Chuck second behind Jones ….Dc overrated by some imo

 

[CrimsonFan]

If we're strictly talking UFC careers, Chuck is #2 in my book behind Jones.

Could even argue #1. Jones came around and dominated an aging division where Chuck was clearly the best when Tito and Ortiz were in their primes. Also Jones tested positive

Wouldn't be a very good argument though lol.

 

[Choco]

chuck liddell, the ice man, blue shorts, is one of the mythical, legendary LHWs of the UFC without a doubt. can't think of another LHW with solid wins over Randleman, Mezger, Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, Babalu, Tito, Randy, Horn, all in their primes too. He's definitely in the top five. It's got to be, in terms of pure dominance, Jon Jones, Shogun, Randy, Chuck, Rampage, something like that. I'd place him number 4 in a hypothetical top 5.

Being able to avenge his loss to at that point 6 years cut from the UFC Jeremy Horn (That on top of that matches stylisticaly horrible against Chucks) or barely eking out a decision againist MW Bustamante (TAnother that matches stylisticaly horrible against Chuckie, being a BJJ guy with no kicks and no much wrestling) being worthy of top 5 achivement in LHW shows how far The Eyes Man nuthuggers are ready to go.

Puting him higher that the man that toyed and destroyed him in their first fight and KOed in like a minute in the second says all.

 

[bubbleboyjones]

Chuck was from a time when his biggest challenge was a math teacher. For the time and p4p he's one of the all time greats. But now, try to imagine him against more recent competition and you will have your answer.

As opposed to today where the most successful UFC HW fighter is a firefighter

 

[Andy Capp]

As opposed to today where the most successful UFC HW fighter is a firefighter

As his full time job because he can't make a living from MMA alone?