Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Chuck "The Iceman" Lidell fight prediction

Tweet

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is known for his amazing fighting style that showcases a great combination of excellent takedown defense and killer knockout punching style. This guy has an unorthodox and awkward stance that often made most of his opponents get confused and eventually get KO'd. He also has very good sprawl and base that stops ground fighters from taking him and pinning him down to the canvas and gaining an advantage. Stylistically, Rua is a perfect match against Liddell. Since the Couture, Sobral and Ortiz fights, I never saw an opponent of Chuck that aimed to take him down to the ground. His past few fights all went to a kickboxing match. And Rua, being a BJJ blackbelt may again test Chuck's takedown or even his submission defense. Also, Rua has a great Muay Thai background and a good chin that gives him a chance in a stand-up war against Liddell. This facts gave me a hard time to give a prediction to this fight. But still, onto my fight prediction: I see this fight as a stand-up war between the two, with Rua attempting for takedowns while Liddell succesfully defends it. If Liddell still has his great takedown defense, I can't see a chance that Shogun may bring the fight to the ground. On the striking game aspect of the fight, even though Shogun has great Muay Thai, I see Chuck gaining the advantage because of the fact Rua has to deal with Liddell's awkward style and that he can not use the "soccer kicks" which he is famous of if he ever knock Liddell down. The only chance Rua has is using his speed advantage, timing the defense and offense from Liddell's counters, exploiting the disadvantages of Chuck's stance which is kind of awkwardly wide open and vulnerable to attacks (especially the way chuck bring his hands down low to his waist) and formulating a good fight plan to take away Chuck from his "comfort zone" and preventing him to impose his will into the fight. I don't really believe that Chuck's age and the number of fights he had is taking toll on his body, its just that the loses from his past few fights came from a good game plan of his opponents which like what Rashad Evans said that he just need to "aim directly to the horns" which is fighting Chuck bravely in a striking game but in an intelligent way. He is still on his prime, its just that the trick behind the magic of his style starts to be revealed. I am looking forward on seeing what those two fighters prepared to defeat each other. Still, my vote goes to Liddell by Technical Knockout on the 2nd round. How about you my fellow myLotters and MMA fans? what are your predictions?