Who: Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz

When: December 30, 2006

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

Breakdown: Did you really think that we would conduct an entire UFC countdown without mentioning arguably the two most popular fighters in mixed martial arts history? Shame on you.

The second installment of the Chuck Liddell-Tito Ortiz feud took place at UFC 66 in what was the biggest UFC event of all-time - - in terms of pay-per-view buys.

The late December showdown between the two bitter rivals eclipsed one million pay-per-view purchases, making it the biggest selling UFC event in history.

Finally, the sport of mixed martial arts had arrived. Prior to UFC 66, spectacles such as boxing and professional wrestling were the only two businesses that had seen numbers like that. With the huge success of The Ultimate Fighter reality series paving the way, Liddell-Ortiz 2 culminated one of the sports long-time goals.

The fight itself showed glimpses of both men’s talents. The bout went back and fourth. Unlike their first duel, Ortiz made this rematch much more competitive, taking Liddell into the third round. But in the end, the Cal Poly alum proved to be too much for the exhausted Ortiz. “The Iceman” held onto his coveted light heavyweight belt and remained atop the 205 pound weight class.

Like the other superb bouts that graced our list, Liddell-Ortiz 2 was a ground-breaking clash that boosted the sport into the forefront of combat athletics. Although the argument can still be made on which sport is on top at the moment; MMA or boxing, it’s only a matter of time before our sport takes the cake. Until then, we look forward to more exciting fights for the next 100 UFC events. We congratulate the UFC, and the sport of mixed martial arts for this monumental milestone that is UFC 100. Be sure to savor this moment as we may be telling our grandchildren about it.

Questions/comments: Discuss the list on our forum or e-mail me at aneely@mmacity.com

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