Chuck Liddell To Fight Mauricio Rua at UFC 85 in London, England

Sherdog has confirmed that Mauricio Rua has signed on to fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 in London, England.

This will no doubt be the biggest fight of Mauricio Rua's career, as this fight will almost certainly be the main event of the card.

Mauricio Rua currently has a record of 16-3-0, with 13 of his victories coming via knockout. His most recent fight was a tapout loss via Rear Naked Choke to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76 - Knockout. Rua has had an impressive career - his three losses have come against Forrest Griffin, Mark Coleman and Renato Sobral. However, he has scored a number of extremely impressive victories, including a win over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson via knockout at PRIDE - Total Elimination 2005 and a unanimous decision win against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at PRIDE - Critical Countdown 2005.

Chuck Liddell, one of the most recognized fighters in the UFC, will be looking to build on his unanimous decision slugfest victory against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79 - Nemesis. This impressive bout put end to the talk that Liddell was on his way out of the UFC due to diminished skills, after he suffered back-to-back losses to Keith Jardine and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 76 and UFC 71. Chuck "Iceman" Liddell currently has a record of 21-5-0, with 13 of his victories coming via knockout. Liddell is almost a full twelve years older than Rua, and it will be interesting to see what impact this age difference has on the bout, if at all. Liddell has defeated many impressive opponents throughout his career, including the likes of Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva.

This should be a tremendous bout. The two fighters are both great strikers, and it should be another match in the same vein as Liddell / Silva; a tremendous stand-up slugfest without much in the way of ground-fighting or submission attempts. Look for Liddell to be a favorite in this fight once odds are available.

Source: Sherdog

Play Poker - Receive a $600 Bonus