Chuck Liddell

Liddell was knocked down by a right hook less than two minutes into the first round and was unable to defend himself against Jackson's strikes on the ground, resulting in a KO victory for Jackson. After the loss, Liddell was widely criticized after reports indicated he had been seen in night clubs the week before the event. He responded that it wasn't anything he hadn't done prior to his other fights in Las Vegas.

On July 11, 2007, Dana White confirmed in an interview with Yahoo! Sports that a rumoured bout between Wanderlei Silva and Liddell had been canceled indefinitely. Silva and Liddell were supposed to fight in the main event at UFC 76 in Anaheim, California. Instead, Liddell would face Keith Jardine.

In the main event of UFC 76, Liddell came out landing his signature right hand to the head of Jardine, rocking him backwards as well as multiple straight right hands but Jardine stayed in the fight. After the dominant first round for Liddell, Jardine started to land low leg kicks continuously throughout the fight while Liddell was unable to time the odd formed southpaw. Liddell lost a close split decision, the first consecutive losses of his career. Liddell stated he wanted a re-match and never took Jardine seriously at all. Read Less

On April 18 at UFC 97, Unfortunately for Liddell, Shogun controlled the fight by utilizing leg kicks and fast punches to pick apart the "Iceman" and defeat him by TKO due to punches late in the first round. After the fight, White declared that Liddell is retired from fighting. White said, "I care about him. I care about his health, and it's over, man. It's over." White went further, saying, "At the end of the day, I care about these guys. I don't want to see anybody stick around too long. You're never going to see Chuck Liddell on the canvas again." In May however, Liddell's trainer, John Hackleman, claimed 'with confidence' that Liddell isn't done yet and that he's "definitely on top of the food chain." Liddell has "more than one fight left in him." In an interview afterward, White went on to rhetorically ask "can I tell him not to fight? Absolutely not. If he still wants to fight, he can fight. I'm not saying, 'It will never happen. It will never happen.' But he made a deal with me to fight." Read Less