Iceman - My Fighting Life
So, before reading Chuck Liddell's biography I had higher expectations than before I read the Matt Hughes book. Why I wonder? They're both former UFC champions, what's the difference? I think it's because Liddell always comes across as a more down to earth guy and Hughes always comes across, to me, as though he is looking down his nose at people. I wasn't wrong in my expectations, Liddell's book is exactly what I thought it would be - great.
Here is an excerpt from Iceman - My Fighting Life:
Then one day we decided to spar, one on one. And I gave the "Bad Boy from Huntington Beach" more than he could handle. To be honest, this was usually the case when we were training together. He was the more high profile fighter because he had been doing it longer, had a bigger personality, and had already won a UFC title. All that would be enough to want to kick his ass every time we sparred to prove he had nothing on me. But none of it bothered me. I knew my success would come as long as I was fighting hard and fighting right. When we sparred, I wanted to beat him up because thats how I spared. We didn't go hard to the head, but full contact body shots were fair. If it had been one of my best friends- such as Eric or Scott- I would have tried to drop him too. But on this day in this session I was sparring with Tito. And while he may have been the champ whom we were supposed to be getting ready, it didn't mean I had to coddle him. In fact, I leveled him with a shot to the body. He doubled over in pain. He got up and I threw another punch to the body. He fell again. It happened a few times. And I finally put my hands down, looked at Dana, and said, "I am not going to hit him anymore, he drops every time I hit him." Dana was so mad that Tito was so soft he started screaming at him, "Get back on your feet, mother fucker." But he wouldn't. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the session. I didn't think about whether he took it personally. But I also knew I wouldn't be giving this chump any more help trying to be the champ.
Here is an excerpt from Iceman - My Fighting Life:
Then one day we decided to spar, one on one. And I gave the "Bad Boy from Huntington Beach" more than he could handle. To be honest, this was usually the case when we were training together. He was the more high profile fighter because he had been doing it longer, had a bigger personality, and had already won a UFC title. All that would be enough to want to kick his ass every time we sparred to prove he had nothing on me. But none of it bothered me. I knew my success would come as long as I was fighting hard and fighting right. When we sparred, I wanted to beat him up because thats how I spared. We didn't go hard to the head, but full contact body shots were fair. If it had been one of my best friends- such as Eric or Scott- I would have tried to drop him too. But on this day in this session I was sparring with Tito. And while he may have been the champ whom we were supposed to be getting ready, it didn't mean I had to coddle him. In fact, I leveled him with a shot to the body. He doubled over in pain. He got up and I threw another punch to the body. He fell again. It happened a few times. And I finally put my hands down, looked at Dana, and said, "I am not going to hit him anymore, he drops every time I hit him." Dana was so mad that Tito was so soft he started screaming at him, "Get back on your feet, mother fucker." But he wouldn't. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the session. I didn't think about whether he took it personally. But I also knew I wouldn't be giving this chump any more help trying to be the champ.
Comments