(Referee Big John McCarthy, seen here helping a dazed Chuck Liddell up off the mat seconds after stopping the fight in the 1st round) 26.05.07 – Once again, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (27-6) has shocked the UFC world, this time with a 1st round knockout over Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell (20-4) on Saturday night at UFC 71 to win the UFC light heavyweight title. As before, in their previous bout in 2003, Jackson just had the better overall slugging skills for Liddell, 37, to deal with.
As the fight started, Liddell seemed very cautious of Jackson, and stayed on the outside, circling constantly and throwing nothing but an occasional jab. He briefly attempted a right hand, but caught a left-right combination from Jackson for his efforts. Shortly after, Lidell attempted to land a left to the body, and Jackson answered immediately with a huge windmill right hook that crashed off of Liddell’s jaw sending him down to the mat flat on his back and badly hurt. Jackson quickly followed up with three more shots which Liddell was helpless to block. The second shot, a big right hand, caused Liddell to go completely flat and motionless for a second, initiating the stoppage.
The referee, Big John McCarthly, seeing that Liddell was in no shape to defend himself, stepped in and halt the bout at 1:53 of the first round. Jackson, 28, in the meantime, seemed shock that the fight had ended so quickly because the fight had been uneventful up until the time that Jackson landed the right hand shot to Liddell’s chin. Both fighters are known more for their punching ability much more so than their grappling, so it came down to who the better puncher was, and as before, Jackson was far superior than Liddell, who seems to have met his match. For all the hype, Liddell appeared timid and afraid tonight, looking nothing like a UFC champion and more like a novice.