Eight reasons to watch Ortiz-Liddell 2

by Dave Doyle

Updated: May 1, 2007, 3:00 PM EST

Either way, you're wondering what all the fuss is about.

On one level, this match's appeal is as simple as the dynamics that bring a schoolyard together to watch a fight.

Ortiz, known as "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy," is a loudmouth. Not just a loudmouth, but one who has a rep for picking fights with easy opponents and finding excuses not to meet the best.

Liddell, known as "The Iceman," is the type who sends bullies home crying to their mommy. The plain-talking San Luis Obispo native lets his fists do the talking, and in doing so, has gained the aura of invincibility that used to be reserved for the heavyweight boxing champion.

But there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the appeal of the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts, which combines combat disciplines like boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo and judo.

Cable insiders predict between 1.3 and 1.6 million buys for Saturday night's show. Just 12 months ago, the company was a fringe player that never topped 200,000 buys for a pay-per-view show.

How did UFC blow up into a full-fledged phenomenon in such a short period of time? Here are eight reasons, one for each side of the company's trademark octagon fighting surface:

UFC delivers where boxing fails

Remember when marquee boxing matches were among the most anticipated sporting events on any given year's calendar? From Jack Dempsey through Muhammad Ali through Marvelous Marvin Hagler, a big fight was something the sporting world anticipated for weeks, and an excuse for guys to spend a night hanging out and drinking with groups of friends.

As boxing flounders, UFC has wrested away the big-fight atmosphere, to the point that both boxing stalwarts HBO and Showtime are getting into the game. This is in large part because UFC controls its championships and keeps its fighters under exclusive contracts, which has its downsides, but does enable the company to regularly deliver the matchups fans crave, like Ortiz-Liddell.

These guys aren't bar brawlers

Zuffa, UFC's parent company, has battled for years to erase the image left by previous owners, Semaphore Entertainment, which originally marketed the product as a blood spectacle, a move that got the sport dropped from cable television for years.

Mainstream sports media outlets have been predictably slow on the uptake, but UFC's popularity mushroomed when a large groundswell of fans realized that MMA's best are among the elite in their favored disciplines. Ortiz and Liddell come from NCAA Division-I college wrestling backgrounds; Ortiz competed at Cal State-Bakersfield and Liddell at Cal-Poly.

All it takes is a cursory glance to reveal the stereotype about MMA fighters being street trash is nonsense. For example, former welterweight champ Matt Hughes, one of the UFC's top drawing cards, was a two-time NCAA wrestling All-American at Eastern Illinois. The man who beat him for the title, Montreal's Georges St. Pierre, was a child prodigy in kyokushin karate who earned his black belt at the age of 12. Charismatic Hawaiian B.J. Penn is a jiu-jitsu world champion, and middleweight standout Matt Lindland of Oregon was the 2000 Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling.

The sport can be as visually jarring as a bar brawl. But ...

UFC matches can be bloody affairs, and company president Dana White openly claims his product isn't for everyone and the squeamish shouldn't watch.

But the matches can just as easily turn into human chess. In the bat of an eye, a simple shift of the hips on the ground can get a combatant out of a potential fight-losing jam and into position to win with a submission hold. MMA's hardcore fan base is educated to the nuances of disciplines like judo and freestyle wrestling and appreciate the sport's equivalent of a sacrifice bunt as much as the home runs.

Knockout power

Yes, we've talked about the subtleties and artistry of the various disciplines. But MMA is also competition at its most raw, so we're not going to pretend the fans don't enjoy the pure adrenaline rush of a decisive knockout punch or kick.

And few fighters deliver the goods like Liddell. Look no further than his knocking out Renato "Babalu" Sobral with a kick to the head or his takeout of Ortiz in their first matchup for evidence.

Honor and respect reign supreme ...

Call it corny if you want. But a big portion of UFC's appeal can be pegged as a backlash to a culture which favors talking points and spin over substance and a sports culture that glorifies bad behavior. While MMA is a derivative of several disciplines, it still carries the moral code of the martial arts. The bulk of the fighters who connect with the people fight clean, stay humble and show respect. There's no quicker way to turn an UFC crowd against you than to use dirty tactics, make excuses for losing, or openly disrespect your opponent. Fans tired of stale clowning are attracted to MMA's ethos of self-reliance and personal responsibility.

... but there are exceptions to every rule.

Ortiz, if nothing else, has that unique Ali-esque ability to talk people into an arena ... whether they wish to cheer for him, or see him get his butt kicked. Mixed martial arts draws a unique breed of cat. On one hand, you have to have a few screws loose to compete in something in which you can get kicked in the head. On the other, you need to be mentally sharp to succeed in a sport in which you can be defeated in dozens of different ways and the slightest slip will leave yourself open for potential defeat. Few exploit these seeming contradictions like Ortiz, who possesses an inate understanding that every hero needs to fight a villain, and a good villain makes big money.

Celebs everywhere

Shaquille O'Neal was a UFC fan long before the sport became cool. If he's not playing hoops, he's in the front row at big events. Movie star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson showed up for UFC 60 in Los Angeles in May, was in his seat in time for the opening preliminary match, and stayed for the entire show.

The most recent celeb on the bandwagon? Former adult film star Jenna Jameson, who has been dating Ortiz since July. An Ortiz victory over Liddell could catapult the couple into one of the hottest pairings of 2007.

Which brings us back to Saturday's fight

Ortiz was the UFC light heavyweight champion from 2000-03. While champ, he found one excuse after another to avoid Liddell, the matchup the fans most wanted. One day he would claim an injury, then get into a money dispute, then decide he wanted to go Hollywood and get into movies. Ortiz's antics so bothered his peers that when Randy Couture beat him for the title in a five-round decision, Couture actually flipped Ortiz over and literally spanked him near the end of the final round.

But Ortiz has remade himself into the most consistent — not to mention the biggest — draw in fighting sports in 2006. After a year away from the UFC, Ortiz returned and sold out the Pond in Anaheim for his return fight, a decision win over up-and-comer Forrest Griffin in April. Then a July win over with Ken Shamrock drew 775,000 PPV buys. A October rematch with Shamrock on cable TV outdrew a baseball playoff game among 18-to-34-year-old males. And now he's back full circle, set to fight Liddell. Ortiz can seal his spot as one of the top athletes of 2006 in any sport with a win over Liddell.

For Liddell, the fight is about cementing his status. He's already the longest tenured among UFC's current champions; he hasn't lost a fight in three years; and he's aiming at surpassing the legacy left before by former welterweight champion Hughes, who dominated his division for the better part of six years and won 19 of 20 fights. A knockout of his most heated rival on the biggest stage in UFC history would augment Liddell's claim for the mythical title of Baddest Man on the Planet.

Dave Doyle is an editor for FOXSports.com. Check in Saturday for his live blog from UFC 66 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.