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The Iceman Overcometh by Teresa Louise Johnson
The buzz in our house is all about UFC 79 and more specifically, Chuck Liddell (and Georges St-Pierre—we are Canadian, after all) and his win over Wanderlei Silva. My favourite fighter has shown his true colours, those of a strong and (some might argue) versatile fighter. Not only did Chuck surprise fans by instigating take-downs in his fight with Silva, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but he even threw elbows into the mix, something he doesn’t generally do. Though the fight went to decision, I would venture to say that Liddell dominated, tossing his opponent around like a rag doll. I was actually surprised and found myself wondering if Silva was ready for his face-off with the Iceman. However, knowing that Silva is not accustomed to fighting in the cage, I wonder if further training with Couture’s team will sort his kinks out.
Though the fight started out a bit slow, with Round One more a feeling out than anything, it was not a hint of things to come. Round Two brought more excitement with exchanges of kicks and a slip by Chuck, who recovered only to take a true fall after a shot to his jaw by Wanderlei. Chuck’s promise to “fight as long as my body’ll let me” (quote from post-fight interview on mmamania.com) is true of his in-fight determination. His quick fall only proved to make him stronger. He came back with a flurry of blows that resulted in a bloody Silva, best described by announcer Rogan: “Wow! That’s a lot of blood!” Though it looked like Silva would go down in Round Two, the Brazilian fighter has one hell of a jaw, called “a tough guy” by Liddell himself in a post-fight interview (found at http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=VideoPlayer.home&gid=9355.) That comes as no shock, as Wanderlei fought bare knuckle fights in Brazil. The round ended with a takedown in the final moments, but nothing came of it.
Come Round Three, Chuck pulled out a double leg takedown right away. The ground match didn’t go on long, with Chuck standing up not long after and preventing Wanderlei from doing the same (for a moment), but it came as a surprise for Chuck fans. I found myself wondering: was he using takedowns as strategy? Normally he’s a stand-up fighter and any throw downs on his part should prove to take his opponent aback. Confirmed by Chuck in post-fight interview, it was strategy (not only to gain points but to keep Silva on his toes) and it worked. Wanderlei seemed barely in the game in Round Three, gassed out and sloppy. Apparently, his “snorkel training” (as seen in pre-fight training videos) did little for his endurance with Liddell. Chuck’s crowning glory of Round Three was a spinning back fist followed by a storm of strikes, Silva’s wild swinging no match for “The Iceman.” Announcer Mike Goldberg’s assertion “Silva wobbly!” is one way to put it; he went down easily in one final takedown in the last 15 seconds of the fight.
Chuck’s experience in the cage may have played a large part in the outcome and a lot can be said for Wanderlei’s talents and for the training camp he’s been utilizing, but when all is said and done, “The Axe Murderer” came out the underdog. Unexpected
