Liddell Chuck - Iceman: my fighting life

W HATS IT LIKE TO WALK DOWN THE STREET AND have no fear? Whats it like to turn the corner and know I can handle anything that comes my way? Whats it like to be the guy people are afraid to meet in a dark alley? People ask me those questions more than any others. Thats what happens when youre six-two, 205 pounds, sport a low-and-tight Mohawk, and have a tattoo etched onto the side of your skull. Thats what happens when youve got a rep as the hardest puncher in what is arguably the toughest sport since the 300 were doing battle. People want to know what its like to be fearless more than they want to know how much money I make (enough), or how much it hurts to be an ultimate fighter (not much), or would I let my nine-year-old son step into the Octagon when hes older (sure, if he trained).

Well, heres the answer: I have no idea, because Ive got nothing to compare it to. Ive never been afraid of a fight. In fact, I like fighting, always have. Not that Im looking for a brawl every time I hit the bars. I stopped doing reckless stuff like that when I was a teenager. Back then Id walk into a room trying to figure which guys I was going to end up throwing down with at the end of the night. I didnt care if I was taking on five other people. I figured, no matter what happened to me, by the time it ended Id have taken care of at least three or four of them. Ever since my grandpa taught me how to throw a punch, Ive known how to handle myself in those situations. And having that kind of confidence frees me up to think about something other than Wow, I can pretty much kick anyones ass. It just doesnt cross my mind. At least not when Im walking down the street.

This is my dont mess with me stance.

But heading toward the cage, thats a different story. Then, I never doubt. When I walk out of the tunnel, I can see the lights, hear the music, feel the crowd, but it all begins to close off as I near the cage. By that point Im thinking, Ive been training hard, its time to focus. I play to the crowd because that is part of the show, but I cant hear what anyone is saying. Good or bad. All the best MMA (mixed martial artist) fighters feel exactly the same way because most of us were competitive athletes long before joining the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). I played football and wrestled at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Randy Couture was an all-American wrestler at Oklahoma State and was an alternate on three Olympic wrestling teams. The UFC welterweight champ Matt Serra won a Brazilian jujitsu gold medal at the Pan American Games. What were doing is sports in its most basic form. We dont have teammates. Its a one-on-one battle, with no place to hide. Every man is born with a fight-or-flight instinct, and mine is to fight. It always has been.

Ive been in twenty-four professional MMA fights since turning pro in 1998. Ive won twenty, seven of those by knockout, and lost four, three of those by knockout. Thats a total of less than three matches a year, which usually equals fewer than forty minutes total of actual fight time. Yet for each of those fights I work out twice a day, five times a week, for three straight months (give or take a day here and there to blow off some steam). My trainer at The Pit in San Luis Obispo, John Hackleman, has me throw a 125-pound medicine ball against a wall. I run with a wheelbarrow full of rocks up hills. I do fight drills, fitness drills, and bag work. I spar. I wrestle. I take kicks to the head and knees to the stomach. And that is just for practice. After that kind of effort, if I walk into the cage and dont think I can whip anyone Im facing, Im in the wrong sport.