From the Octagon to the stage

By Brett Okamoto

Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 | 1:49 p.m.

Although UFC legend Chuck Liddell told the organization and his fans he wouldn’t be fighting in the 2009 calendar year, apparently that didn’t mean he would be refraining from competition entirely.

“The Iceman” will grace the stage of this year’s “Dancing with the Stars” television show, starting with his debut on Sept. 21.

Liddell, 39, will be the first mixed martial arts fighter to ever compete on the show and he says he intends to represent his athletes well.

“I want to win,” he told UFC.com. “I don’t like losing in anything, so I’ll work as hard as they’ll let me.”

Liddell said he is looking forward to meeting his partner and has already began getting in shape for the show.

Although he is a frequent visitor to Las Vegas nightclubs and says he isn’t shy about hitting the dance floor, he also admits he’s got some learning to do.

“I like to dance, but I don’t know how to dance,” he laughed. “When I talked to them after I agreed to do it they said, ‘If you don’t have any background in dancing, just learn it when you get here.’”

Liddell’s last fight in the UFC was a TKO loss to Mauricio Shogun Rua in April.

The once dominant light heavyweight that gave fans memorable fights against Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture has gone through a tough skid in the Octagon, losing four of his last five.

Liddell has stayed publicly adamant his fighting career isn’t over, however UFC President and close friend Dana White has said that he believes the Hall of Famer needs to retire.

Since April, Liddell has stayed busy with events such as golf tournaments and attending all the UFC events where he remains wildly popular.

Whether his career in the Octagon is officially probably won’t be answered until 2010, but it definitely is clear that Liddell is staying good on his promise to stay away from it for the rest of this year.

“(Dancing with the Stars) asked a couple different times, but it would be too much time to take off from training for fights,” Liddell said. “Now I don’t have any fights coming up and I’m not training, so it’s something to do.”

His appearance on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ won’t be his first in mainstream entertainment. Among other guest appearances, Liddell has appeared on the first season of ‘Inked’, the Jet Li movie ‘Cradle 2 the Grave’, HBO series ‘Entourage’ and ‘Drillbit Taylor’ starring Owen Wilson.

Other celebrities announced for this season of the show are model Kathy Ireland, actress Melissa Joan Hart, former NFL player Michael Irvin, singer Kelly Osbourne, Las Vegas entertainer Donny Osmond and Olympic gold-medalist Natalie Coughlin.

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected].