A few months ago the UFC’s light heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell got knocked out by the new champ Pride veteran Quintin “Rampage” Jackson in UFC 71. Although Jackson has beaten Chuck before in a Pride event, many UFC fans call the knockout a big time upset. Other fans including myself who watch both Pride and the UFC know it was not as big an upset as many people were made to believe.

Before I move on with this post, realize that I am in no shape of form bashing the UFC or saying the Chuck is not a game fighter. He is a very intense and vicious striker and has incredible take down defense. I just feel that many fans idolize Chuck as the best in his division without realizing how much competition was actually missing during his glorious run as the Champion in the UFC.

Now that Pride is owned by the UFC and many of its fighters are crossing over to fight in its cage matches, I think we’ll start to see what the “Iceman” is truly capable of. Chuck’s long awaited return comes in UFC 76 against Keith Jardine. Jardine ain’t no slouch, but I don’t think he has to tools to beat a guy like Chuck Liddell. I predict Jardine losing by knockout within the first round.

Now originally Chuck was suppose to fight Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva as UFC 76’s main event. That was cancelled based on the rumor that Wand had actually punked out. Those who have watched Wand bang, know this is probably just that. A rumor. On Wanderlei’s site, he denies backing out of the fight saying “There’s a lot of people saying that I have ducked Chuck. This is not true.“. I honestly feel that if the Chuck and Wand did fight in UFC 76, Chuck would lose a 2nd straight time.

The only clear advantage I think Chuck will have during his comeback is the fact that the UFC uses a different set of rules than Pride. The main differences that might affect a Pride vs. UFC fighter are the rules involving elbows strikes, knees, and stomps. There are no knees or kicks to the head of an opponent in the UFC while it’s allowed in Pride. However, elbows to the head and face are allowed in the UFC but are against Pride regulations.

This shouldn’t make difference very long, and the fighters should adjust well to the new unified rule system which use the UFC guidelines. For some Top Pride fighters however, the inability to use the knees and kicks on the ground might affect their fighting style and their arsenal of moves.

When it all comes down to it, Chucks road to becoming the champ again will have some serious roadblocks. I expect to see Pride fighters such as Mauricio Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Dan Henderson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Ricardo Arona to make some noise in the light heavy division. We also have to remember a former Pride fighter is the UFC’s current LHW champ.

Lets not forget that the UFC still has many of its own light heavyweights hungry for a title shot in that division. Guys like Michael Bisping, Rashard Evans, Renato Sobral, Tito Ortiz, and Forrest Griffin are all very capable and deadly fighters.

I think the days of Chucks dominance in the UFC have come to an end and the Light Heavyweight Division is wide open. Your thoughts?