UFC 52 - Couture vs Liddell 2 is On!
Feb 3, 2005
LAS VEGAS, NV., February 2, 2005…They compete against each other as
coaches every week for Team Couture and Team Liddell in the new,
exciting The Ultimate Fighter reality show on Spike TV. Now,
Ultimate Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture and number one
contender Chuck Liddell
will clash for the UFC World Light Heavyweight Championship in the
main event of UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2, Saturday, April 16, at
the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Tickets priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50, for the all-star, eight-fight card go on sale at Noon, Sunday, Feb. 6, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com, www.mgmgrand.com and by telephone at 800-929-1111 or 702-891-7777. Ticket purchases are subject to transaction fees. UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2 also will be available LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EDT on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail price is $34.95.
Team coaching aside, the Couture-Liddell rematch has been brewing
for almost two years since the then 40-year-old Couture, “The
Natural” from Portland, Ore., made a dramatic impact on the light
heavyweight division with a third-round technical knockout of “The
Iceman” Liddell to win the UFC interim light heavyweight title at
UFC 43: Meltdown.
Couture, the former two-time UFC heavyweight champ (13-6-0 in mixed martial arts), followed with a rampage through the light heavyweight division, defeating Tito Ortiz for the undisputed title with a dominating, five-round unanimous decision Sept. 26, 2003; losing the belt to Vitor Belfort on January 31, 2004 due to a glancing left hook that opened a cut over his left eye only 48 seconds into the fight, then winning it back from Belfort with another dominating ground and pound performance Aug. 21, 2004. Couture is the only fighter in UFC history to win titles twice in two different weight divisions.
“It’s going to be very different this time,” Liddell predicts. “I’m going to win by a knockout and be the light heavyweight champ.”
But Couture is just as adamant. “This fight will end just like the last one. At the end of the night, I’m still going home with the belt,” he said.
Both fighters now have the opportunity to claim the light heavyweight belt just one week after the conclusion of Team Liddell vs. Team Couture Saturday, April 9 on The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. The remaining all-star bouts on the UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2 card will be announced in the near future.
The Ultimate Fighter, which premiered last month continues to wow audiences each Monday at 11 p.m. EST/PST on Spike TV. Viewers can follow the remaining 13 fighters each Monday night for nine more episodes as they train, work out and live together before the final show on Saturday, April 9. At the end of each week, one fighter from each of the two teams must fight in the Octagon to avoid being kicked out of the UFC training center until only two remain in each of two weight divisions. In the end, The Ultimate Fighter will be determined by a live competition match – a head-to-head fight to the finish in the Octagon.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, based in Las Vegas, Nev., is the world’s premier mixed martial arts sports association. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the UFC programs six live pay-per-view events yearly through cable and satellite providers. In addition, UFC programs are distributed on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Fox Sports Net, Bell ExpressVu and internationally through Viewers Choice Canada, WOWOW, Inc.,in Japan and Globosat in Brazil.
Tickets priced at $400, $300, $200, $100 and $50, for the all-star, eight-fight card go on sale at Noon, Sunday, Feb. 6, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com, www.mgmgrand.com and by telephone at 800-929-1111 or 702-891-7777. Ticket purchases are subject to transaction fees. UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2 also will be available LIVE on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EDT on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail price is $34.95.
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Couture, the former two-time UFC heavyweight champ (13-6-0 in mixed martial arts), followed with a rampage through the light heavyweight division, defeating Tito Ortiz for the undisputed title with a dominating, five-round unanimous decision Sept. 26, 2003; losing the belt to Vitor Belfort on January 31, 2004 due to a glancing left hook that opened a cut over his left eye only 48 seconds into the fight, then winning it back from Belfort with another dominating ground and pound performance Aug. 21, 2004. Couture is the only fighter in UFC history to win titles twice in two different weight divisions.
Liddell (14-3-0) from San Luis Obispo, Calif., didn’t allow the
loss to Couture to affect his game. He rebounded April 2, 2004 with
a powerful second-round knockout of Ortiz to get back into the
light heavyweight title picture and followed it with a first-round
knockout of Vernon “Tiger” White on the same Couture-Belfort card
in August.
“It’s going to be very different this time,” Liddell predicts. “I’m going to win by a knockout and be the light heavyweight champ.”
But Couture is just as adamant. “This fight will end just like the last one. At the end of the night, I’m still going home with the belt,” he said.
Both fighters now have the opportunity to claim the light heavyweight belt just one week after the conclusion of Team Liddell vs. Team Couture Saturday, April 9 on The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV. The remaining all-star bouts on the UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2 card will be announced in the near future.
The Ultimate Fighter, which premiered last month continues to wow audiences each Monday at 11 p.m. EST/PST on Spike TV. Viewers can follow the remaining 13 fighters each Monday night for nine more episodes as they train, work out and live together before the final show on Saturday, April 9. At the end of each week, one fighter from each of the two teams must fight in the Octagon to avoid being kicked out of the UFC training center until only two remain in each of two weight divisions. In the end, The Ultimate Fighter will be determined by a live competition match – a head-to-head fight to the finish in the Octagon.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, based in Las Vegas, Nev., is the world’s premier mixed martial arts sports association. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, the UFC programs six live pay-per-view events yearly through cable and satellite providers. In addition, UFC programs are distributed on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Fox Sports Net, Bell ExpressVu and internationally through Viewers Choice Canada, WOWOW, Inc.,in Japan and Globosat in Brazil.
