Friday, Dec. 29, 2006 | 7:24 a.m.
Principals: Chuck Liddell (19-3 mixed martial arts) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-4), five scheduled rounds
At stake: Liddell's Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title (205 pounds)
Time/site: Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena; doors open, 4:30 p.m.; first bout, 5:10 p.m.; live pay-per-view, 7 p.m.
Tickets: Sellout expected, $200-$1,000, mgmgrand.com
TV: Pay-per-view, $39.95
Weigh-in ceremonies: 3 to 5 p.m. today, MGM Grand Garden Arena
Betting line: Liddell favored, minus-245 (risk $2.45 to win $1)
FULL UNDERCARD:
Preliminaries
Anthony Perosh (5-2) vs. Christian Wellisch (7-2), three rounds, heavyweights
Yushin Okami (18-3) vs. Rory Singer (10-6), three rounds, middleweights
Carmelo Marrero (5-0) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (6-1), three rounds, heavyweights
Tony DeSouza (9-2) vs. Thiago Alves (15-4), three rounds, welterweights
Main card
Eric Schafer (9-1-2) vs. Michael Bisping (11-0), three rounds, light heavyweights
Jason MacDonald (17-7) vs. Chris Leben (15-2), three rounds, middleweights
Marcio Cruz (2-1) vs. Andrei Arlovski (11-5), three rounds, heavyweights
Keith Jardine (11-3-1) vs. Forrest Griffin (13-3), three rounds, light heavyweights
1. Sort of homecoming
Sold-out arenas in Las Vegas have become de rigueur for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but Saturday's match between two of the sport's most popular and charismatic fighters on New Year's weekend figures to lift the spectacle to another level entirely. "I guarantee it will be the biggest fight in UFC history," said Ortiz, the former 205-pound champ who hopes to wrest the title from his rival and former training partner, Liddell. "I'm from Huntington Beach (Calif.), but Las Vegas is my home away from home, and it's nice to be back home fighting in front of 16,000 fans. It shows how much fans are attracted to the UFC now. The sport's undergone a huge revolution, and it's one of the most popular sports in the world today."
2. High expectations
In addition to the live crowd at the Grand Garden Arena, UFC president Dana White is projecting a pay-per-view audience of an estimated 1.2 million purchases, which would be a record for the sport and one of the biggest pay-per-view shows of any kind this year. By comparison, the Oscar De La Hoya-Ricardo Mayorga fight in May was boxing's top pay-per-view event of 2006, generating 875,000 buys. "These guys are two of our biggest stars ever in the UFC," White said. "There's just something about these two. People love to see them fight. We all got goose bumps in here watching the video and the footage (of their previous fights). It's an exciting fight and there's a big buzz about it."
3. Study in contrast
The Liddell-Ortiz matchup represents a clash of styles in more ways than one. Ortiz, 31, embraces a flashy, bleach-blond, beach boy persona and often appears in public with his girlfriend, porn impresario Jenna Jameson. Liddell, 37, projects a more stoic, "silent assassin" sort of demeanor, befitting his nickname, "the Iceman." In the octagon, Liddell, a kickboxer by trade, excels in the stand-up portion of the game while Ortiz likes to take it to the mat and use his wrestling skills. "The greatest challenge is taking him down," Ortiz said. "It's not gonna be an easy task. But I've been working hard for the last three months, and I'm ready physically and emotionally."
4. Former friends
Liddell and Ortiz frequently trained together earlier in their careers, even crashing on each other's couches at times - Liddell in Huntington Beach, Ortiz in Liddell's hometown of San Luis Obispo, Calif. The friendship has since dissolved, both men say. "I don't really care about all that," Liddell said. "This is a fight, and I'm going out there to beat Tito. He's done a good job getting his career back to where he gets another title shot. Is it special to me because we used to train together? No, not really. Does it help me get motivated? I know he's gonna run his mouth. Losing would be the worst thing in the world because you'd have to listen to him run his mouth for ... probably forever."
5. Predictions
Liddell sees a virtual replay of their first fight in 2004, when he stopped Ortiz in the second round. "I don't have to establish that I hit hard, he already knows that," Liddell said. "I'm gonna knock him out somewhere, it depends. It should be a good fight if he comes out confident, comes out fighting hard. Somewhere in the third, fourth round, second maybe." Regaining his title would be the "biggest thing in my life," Ortiz said. "My prediction is to make it a real exciting fight, and my hand will be raised at the end of the fight," Ortiz said.
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