This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Chuck Liddell Turns 46

He was one of the rocks upon which Zuffa built its Ultimate Fighting Championship empire. Chuck Liddell will celebrate his 46th birthday on Dec. 17.

Between April 2, 2004 and Dec. 30, 2006, no fighter’s star burned brighter than Liddell’s. He rattled off seven consecutive victories, all of them finishes, and became the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder when he knocked out longtime rival Randy Couture at UFC 52. “The Iceman” successfully defended the championship four times, turning away Couture, Tito Ortiz, Jeremy Horn and Renato Sobral in rematches. Though Liddell surrendered the 205-pound crown to Quinton Jackson at UFC 71 and went on to lose five of his final six bouts before his retirement, his place among the all-time greats was secure.

Liddell was enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame in July 2009. He remains tied for fifth on the promotion’s career list in victories (16) and tied for eighth in appearances (23). According to FightMetric data, no light heavyweight in UFC history has more knockdowns landed than Liddell’s 14.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of December:

DEC. 1

Shinsho Anzai (30)
Curtis Millender (28)
Richard Walsh (27)

DEC. 2

Dennis Hallman (40)
Billy Vaughan (32)
Marlon Vera (23)

DEC. 3

Vernon White (44)
Robert Hitte (40)
Seth Petruzelli (36)
Nina Ansaroff (30)
Shoki Omichi (28)

DEC. 4

Sean Daugherty (40)
Max Holloway (24)
Gianni Subba (23)

DEC. 5

Daijiro Matsui (43)
Travis Lutter (42)
Amy Davis (41)
Tetsuji Kato (38)
Kenichiro Togashi (35)
Mats Nilsson (32)

DEC. 6

Royler Gracie (50)
Jens Pulver (41)
Peggy Morgan (36)
Todd Duffee (30)

DEC. 7

Soa Palelei (38)
Ronaldo Souza (36)
K.J. Noons (33)
Dongi Yang (31)
Michael Chiesa (28)
Claudia Gadelha (27)
Stephen Banaszak (25)

DEC. 8

Lucio Linhares (42)
Clay Guida (34)
Naoyuki Kotani (34)
Luiz Andrade I (30)
Pannie Kianzad (24)

DEC. 9

Chris Guillen (43)
Aaron Riley (35)
Joey Beltran (34)
Rani Yahya (31)
Terrell Hobbs (30)

DEC. 10

John Olav Einemo (40)
Andreas Kraniotakes (34)
Zoila Frausto Gurgel (32)
Jamie Varner (31)
Soo Chul Kim (24)

DEC. 11

Kendall Grove (33)
Mark Drummond (30)
Amir Aliakbari (28)
Tony Martin (26)

DEC. 12

Royce Gracie (49)
Evangelista Santos (38)
Yuki Shojo (35)
Court McGee (31)
Luke Sanders (30)
Neiman Gracie (27)
Derrick Adkins (26)
Spencer Jebb (26)

DEC. 13

B.J. Penn (37)

DEC. 14

Valdir Araujo (31)
Caio Magalhaes (28)
Graham Park (27)
Heili Alateng (24)

DEC. 15

Yasubey Enomoto (32)
Jared Chaffee (31)
Ivica Truscek (28)

DEC. 16

Narantungalag Jadambaa (40)
Elaina Maxwell (37)
James Thompson (35)
Adriano Martins (33)
Takeya Mizugaki (32)
Won Sik Park (29)
Cody McKenzie (28)

DEC. 17

Chuck Liddell (46)
Kiyoshi Tamura (46)
David Loiseau (36)
Francisco Trevino (34)
Joe Ray (31)
Matt Dwyer (26)
Aline Sattelmayer (25)

DEC. 18

Kim Couture (40)
Evan Dunham (34)
Roland Delorme (32)

DEC. 19

Michihiro Omigawa (40)
Satoshi Ishii (29)
Darrion Caldwell (28)
Jack Marshman (26)
Steve Montgomery (25)

DEC. 20

Mark Coleman (51)
Steve Granieri (41)
Taiyo Nakahara (33)
Tristan Johnson (32)
Alexei Kudin (31)
Robert Whittaker (25)

DEC. 21

Mark Kerr (47)
Masakatsu Ueda (38)
Mike Bannon (33)
Brad Tavares (28)

DEC. 22

David Branch (34)
Bentley Syler (33)
Norman Parke (29)
Stephen Langdown (23)

DEC. 23

Fabricio Camoes (37)
Joanne Calderwood (29)

DEC. 24

Drew Fickett (36)
Jason Miller (35)
Tim Elliott (29)
Aisling Daly (28)
David Khachatryan (28)

DEC. 25

Rafael Natal (33)
Jordan Smith (31)
Rolando Velasco (29)
Dustin Ortiz (27)

DEC. 26

Jerome Le Banner (43)
Alex Stiebling (39)
Dan Hornbuckle (35)
Jesus Martinez (32)
Gregor Gracie (29)
Advin Omic (29)
Albert Tumenov (24)

DEC. 27

Liron Wilson (43)
Daniel Acacio (38)

DEC. 28

Gerald Lovato (37)
Matt Bessette (31)

DEC. 29

Rumina Sato (42)
Mitsuhiro Ishida (37)
Sheila Gaff (26)
Camila Lima (26)

DEC. 30

Shannon Gugerty (34)
Nick Osipczak (31)

DEC. 31

Ian Freeman (45)
Diego Sanchez (34)
Randy Steinke (29)
Chidi Njokuani (27)