UFC Announces Liddell’s Return, Debut of “Shogun”
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Wednesday announced plans for
UFC 76 "Knockout" on its Web site, making official the return of
former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (Pictures) and the debut of PRIDE ace
"Shogun" Mauricio Rua
(Pictures).
Headlining the bill, which is slated for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on September 22, "The Iceman" returns from his disappointing loss to Quinton Jackson (Pictures) back in May to confront TUF 2 veteran Keith Jardine (Pictures).
"This is going to be a good standup fight, and it will be a very exciting fight for the fans," declared Liddell on UFC.com. "But I will beat him. I'm going to knock him out -- I'll go in there and pound on him until he goes down -- I want to knock him out as fast as I can, win the fight, and then go get my belt back."
The UFC had originally planned on pitting Liddell against Wanderlei Silva (Pictures); but the Brazilian, who himself is coming off a knockout loss to Dan Henderson (Pictures) his last time out, told Sherdog.com's Gleidson Venga earlier this week that he had turned down the fight in hopes of securing a home in the United States. Silva stated that he would like to face Liddell later this year.
Also announced on the card, PRIDE 2005 middleweight Grand Prix winner Mauricio Rua (Pictures) will make his octagon debut against fan-favorite Forrest Griffin (Pictures).
Rua has reeled off four straight victories since suffering a devastating elbow injury against Mark Coleman (Pictures) in February of 2006, including stoppages of Alistair Overeem (Pictures) and Cyrille Diabate (Pictures).
"Shogun is coming into the UFC because he wants the same thing [as Liddell], to get in the race and ultimately prove he is the best light heavyweight in the world," said UFC President Dana White, "So UFC 76 is going to have a huge impact on the 205-pound division and who we could eventually see fight Dan Henderson (Pictures) or ‘Rampage' for the title."
Headlining the bill, which is slated for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on September 22, "The Iceman" returns from his disappointing loss to Quinton Jackson (Pictures) back in May to confront TUF 2 veteran Keith Jardine (Pictures).
"This is going to be a good standup fight, and it will be a very exciting fight for the fans," declared Liddell on UFC.com. "But I will beat him. I'm going to knock him out -- I'll go in there and pound on him until he goes down -- I want to knock him out as fast as I can, win the fight, and then go get my belt back."
The UFC had originally planned on pitting Liddell against Wanderlei Silva (Pictures); but the Brazilian, who himself is coming off a knockout loss to Dan Henderson (Pictures) his last time out, told Sherdog.com's Gleidson Venga earlier this week that he had turned down the fight in hopes of securing a home in the United States. Silva stated that he would like to face Liddell later this year.
Also announced on the card, PRIDE 2005 middleweight Grand Prix winner Mauricio Rua (Pictures) will make his octagon debut against fan-favorite Forrest Griffin (Pictures).
Rua has reeled off four straight victories since suffering a devastating elbow injury against Mark Coleman (Pictures) in February of 2006, including stoppages of Alistair Overeem (Pictures) and Cyrille Diabate (Pictures).
"Shogun is coming into the UFC because he wants the same thing [as Liddell], to get in the race and ultimately prove he is the best light heavyweight in the world," said UFC President Dana White, "So UFC 76 is going to have a huge impact on the 205-pound division and who we could eventually see fight Dan Henderson (Pictures) or ‘Rampage' for the title."
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