(Japanese martial arts bags) Tito Ortiz vs Chuck Liddell - It's on (again)
February 2nd, 2008
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Chuck Liddell vs Tito Oriz - It’s on (again) Call me crazy, most people do, but I think Chuck Liddell is going to have a lot of trouble on December 30, 2006 when he faces Tito Ortiz for the second time. A little history first. On April 2, 2004, Tito Ortiz faced Chuck Liddell in the UFC octagon for the first time. It was supposed to be a war to end all wars, entitled “It’s On!” (i.e. it’s finally on), making reference to how long fans had to wait to finally see this match up. If memory serves me correctly, it was two years between when Chuck was considered the #1 contender and when we finally got to see the fight. I was at the 2004 fight, $350 seats which didn’t put me on the floor, but I was awfully close. It was a fantastic event, I’ve never been to a sporting event like it. There were about 10,000 people there, but it sounded like 50,000. There was so much energy and 99% of the people there were hard core fans, really into the fights. The fans that night were split about 50/50 with who they were rooting for. In the end, Chuck knocked Tito out early in the second round. Tito never did mount an offence and for some reason decided to stand and trade punches with Chuck instead of taking him to the mat. He says he was trying to prove something, I think it was just a bad game plan, derived loosly from Randy Couture’s victory over chuck previous to this (Randy also traded punches, and won…worth noting that Randy has lost to Chuck twice since then, both by knock out). So, what makes me think things will be different this time. Age, maturity, complacency, courage, cardio, experience and strategy. Age You see, both fighters are 2 1/2 years older. The difference being that Tito will be 31 vs Chuck’s 37. Anyone over 40 will tell you that there is a much bigger difference between 35 and 37 than there is between 29 and 31. Chucks a great athlete and champion, but we all slow down sometime. Maturity Again, we are not talking absolutes here, but relative. Relative to the fight 2 1/2 years ago, I think Tito has matured more than Chuck. He’s had time off to reflect, changes in his personal life and he still trains like he’s 25. Complacency I’m not even sure what that means, but if it means what I think it means, Chuck’s gotta be it. He’s won easily in his last few outings, hardly breaking a sweat. That’s gotta mess with your head. Courage Hey, lets be serious here. Tito was a little afraid of Chuck the first time around, but let me tell you something. Any man who’s willing to step into the bedroom with Jenna Jameson should have no trouble facing Chuck Liddell. Cardio Anyone who watch the Ulitmate Fighter season 3 knows that Tito is a cardio freak. Nobody trains cardio like Tito. On the other hand, while Chuck is a great fighter, he hasn’t been pushed for a very long time (since his first fight with Randy). Experience I’m talking recent experience here. Tito’s simply gone more rounds than Chuck in recent fights. Although, maybe that’s not quite true…his last two fights with Ken Shamrock didn’t even amount to a single round. Ok, this ones a non-issue. Strategy If Tito comes out with the same strategy as last time, I’ll write him off for good. It was flawed when Tito used it last time and things won’t change if he uses it again. On the other hand, if Tito is committed to making Chuck work, even if it’s repeatedly trying to avoid takedowns, at some point Tito’s superior cardio will take over. So there you have it, my final prediction, Tito Ortiz by ref stoppage. Could I be wrong? Of course I could, if the fight doesn’t make it to the 3rd round, or Tito can’t take him down, then it’s Chucks to win. If it goes 3 rounds or deeper, I’ll take Tito for sure. Also, if Tito can put Chuck on his back, then I’ll take Tito. One thing is for certain, I’ll be watching the fight on December 30th, on the edge of my seat!
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Mma-A Brief History
It would be impossible to fully track every aspect of the beginnings of mma. The Greeks, Romans, Cavemen? I will try to bring to you a history of mma that impacted the United States as I believe it occurred, and what is now the growing popularity in this reality fighting. When I use the term reality fighting, it refers to actual full contact striking and joint wrenching submissions. It is not meant to disrespect the traditional martial arts. In Brazil there was a competition called vale tudo (Portuguese for anything goes) In the early nineties an elder son of a very respected Brazilian jiu-jitsu (bjj) master came to the United States. This elder son and his younger brother were giving Bjj lessons out of their garage. This elder son partnered with another man and began a very popular competition where fighters of different styles would fight each other abiding by only a few rules. The younger brother of the man you started this competition dominated the fighters that stood before him. Many of the fighters were of a standing style (karate,kung-fu,etc) when this young man would take them down and tie them in a pretzel they were at a loss on how to defend against it. At this time there were no time limits on rounds. This young man would hold on to his competitors like an anaconda; wearing them down and waiting for the right moment to apply a submission hold. It did not take long for future fighters to start training in this young mans style and start gaining there own submissions. One mistake was made though. Now they were getting knocked out. The new rules to this competition incorporated rounds, and if they were on the ground too long with no action the ref would stand them back up. Not exactly a grapplers desire. With these new rules in place a new breed of fighter emerged. Mma fighters had to find a new way to cope with the double threat of stand up and ground fighting. Many of these fighters started to cross train in both ground fighting and stand up. The world of mma in the United States would never be the same. It was no longer a matter of style versus style, but who had the better stand up OR ground game. Its very complex if you think about it. Say fighter A is stronger at stand up than on the ground. His competitor, fighter B is equal at both, maybe a little better at standing and just as good a fighter as A on the ground. This scenario can be a combination of a lot of variables. There is strategy in these fights. They do not just go toe to toe with a fighter. They study their competitor and try to exploit their weakness. Regardless where mma originated from, no one can deny the explosion this sport has seen, or the skill of these athletes. These are not brainless brawlers wanting to duke it out, they are skilled combatants with a strategy wanting to compete with other skilled fighters.
Shawn Sellen is the owner of the mixed martial arts website <A HREF="http://www.mmaarticles.com">mmaarticles.com</A>
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