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Written by Neil Davidson, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Wednesday, 03 September 2008 |
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ATLANTA - Liddell-Couture 4? Why not, says The Iceman.
News Tuesday that Randy (The Natural) Couture was back in the UFC after sorting out his legal battle with the mixed martial arts organization was of particular interest to Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell. The two fought three memorable times as light-heavyweights with Couture winning at UFC 43 and Liddell scoring knockouts at UFC 52 and 57.
Couture, 45, has a new three-fight deal that kicks off Nov. 15 in Las Vegas against Brock Lesnar, a man-mountain who is a former NCAA wrestling champion and pro wrestling star.
The UFC plans to match the Couture-Lesnar winner against the winner of a December bout between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir in what amounts to be a four-man heavyweight tournament. Nogueira was crowned interim champion when he beat Tim Sylvia at UFC 81 in February, when a disgruntled Couture was fighting the UFC in court. Mir is a former heavyweight champion who submitted Lesnar in his UFC debut at UFC 81.
Couture's dream matchup would be Fedor Emelianenko but the Russian star is currently under contract to rival promoter Affliction. If the UFC fails again to sign the Russian, could Liddell be a possible third fight for Couture in his latest comeback-this time at heavyweight?
Asked if he was interested in another shot at Couture, the 38-year-old Liddell smiled.
"If he gets the title back (after the tournament), I wouldn't mind coming up and getting the heavyweight title too," Liddell said Wednesday. "We can talk about that later."
Liddell (21-5) may have other options if he hands Rashad Evans (16-0-1) his first loss on Saturday night at UFC 88. A date with current light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin could await, although the UFC has a wealth of riches in the 205-pound division.
"I think I'm due a crack at that title, sure," said Liddell, who defeated Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva last time out. "I'm going to argue for it after I win but we'll see what happens."
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Footage of UFC fights eventually finds its way to Denmark and Danish middleweight Martin (The Hitman) Kampmann knows his father likes to check it out. But not his mother.
"She don't like to watch people get beaten up," said Kampmann, who trains in the U.S. "Whether it's me or the other guy, she don't like to watch it."
His mother would probably rather he had kept up with his engineering studies, added the fighter,
Kampmann will have Randy (The Natural) Couture in his corner Saturday when he takes on Nate (The Great) Marquardt. Kampmann trains out of Las Vegas at Xtreme Couture and has worked out with Couture.
The Dane will also be cornered by Canadian Shawn Tompkins, an instructor at Xtreme Couture.
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Reporters weren't the only ones wielding video cameras at Wednesday's media workouts in advance of UFC 88. John Hackleman, who trains Chuck Liddell, was shooting footage and asking questions.
Hackleman posts his videos on his website, www.thepit.tv and YouTube. For almost a year, he's quizzed everyone from UFC president Dana White and fighters like Liddell and Phil Baroni to passers-bys on the street.
Rather than inquire how a fighter's training is going, he might ask how they like their eggs in the morning.
"I just try to get inside their little heads, find out what they're really thinking or what they played with when they were a kid," he said.
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