Perhaps no two competitors have a stronger connection to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s rise to power than
Chuck
Liddell
and
Randy
Couture, two men who were inextricably linked by being at the
right places at exactly the right times.
Their rivalry, which took place across a series of three fights
between June 6, 2003 and Feb. 4, 2006 and determined the fate of
the undisputed light heavyweight championship, played a significant
role in launching the UFC to previously unforeseen heights and made
them living legends in a still-developing sport. Liddell forged a
2-1 advantage in their head-to-head matchups, none of which went
the distance. Now more than 16 years removed from their final
meeting, Liddell and Couture remain revered figures for having
helped bridge MMA’s past to its present and future.
As their exploits continue to fade into the past, a by-the-numbers
look at the Liddell-Couture trilogy:
974: Days between the first and third Liddell-Couture meetings.
Couture stopped “The Iceman” with third-round punches at UFC 43 in
June 2003 before losing their two follow-up encounters, succumbing
to first-round punches from Liddell at UFC 52 in April 2005 and
doing the same to second-round blows at UFC 57 in February
2006.
728,000: Pay-per-view buys for the three events headlined by
Liddell-Couture. They increased from 49,000 for UFC 43 to 280,000
for UFC 52 to 400,000 for UFC 57.
14,562: Fans at the second confrontation between Liddell and
Couture in the UFC 52 main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas. It was the highest attendance figure of the trilogy and
resulted in a $2,575,450 gate.
1,273: Seconds of fight time for the Liddell-Couture series. They
faced one another inside the Octagon for a total of 21:13—the
equivalent of a little more than four complete rounds.
149: Combined total strikes landed by Liddell and Couture in their
three matches. Nearly half of those (68) were produced by their
showdown under the UFC 43 marquee.
8: Significant strikes by which Couture outlanded “The Iceman” in
their historic trilogy. He connected with 62 such strikes while
absorbing 54 in return.
13: Significant leg strikes landed by Liddell across his three
bouts with Couture, and he did so on 15 attempts—an 87% success
rate.
2: Knockdowns credited to Liddell in the rivalry, with both leading
to stoppages at UFC 52 and UFC 57.
5: Takedowns completed by Couture at the notoriously
difficult-to-ground Liddell’s expense. He needed eight attempts to
do so, giving him a takedown accuracy rate of 63% in their
head-to-head matchups.
.471: Cumulative winning percentage between the two men following
the completion of their trilogy. Couture compiled a 5-3 record,
with wins over
Tim Sylvia,
Gabriel
Gonzaga,
Brandon
Vera,
Mark Coleman
and
James Toney.
Liddeall, meanwhile, went a disappointing 3-6, with victories over
Renato
Sobral,
Tito Ortiz and
Wanderlei
Silva.