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.
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