Liddell finishes '07 on winning note

Maybe Cal Poly's basketball fans should have stayed home and watched the fight tonight.
While the Mustangs men's basketball team lost at home to 2-10 Southern Utah, former Cal Poly wrestler and mixed martial arts star Chuck Liddell ended his year in style.
The “Iceman” looked like his old self in Ultimate Fighting Championship 79 as one of the sport’s most feared strikers came out swinging and came away with his first victory of the year against former PRIDE star Wanderlei Silva.
The light heavyweight slugfest went the allotted three rounds, but an aggressive Liddell clearly controlled the bout and won by unanimous decision, 29-28, 30-27, 30-27, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
The win snapped a two-fight losing streak by the former Mustang, who still lives and trains in San Luis Obispo.
Liddell’s last win came exactly a year ago, beating Tito Ortiz with his seventh consecutive knockout victory, solidifying his place atop the decision. But losses to Quinton Jackson (May 26) and Keith Jardine (Sept. 22) had many speculating about his future in mixed martial arts.
Some of those naysayers were silenced Saturday after Liddell came out with a flurry of blows that staggered Silva in the first round.
Silva recovered and came out strong in the second before a cut above his right eye slowed his attack. Both fighters went down briefly in the second round but avoided a stoppage.
Liddell took Silva down again in the third round just before final bell.
The "Iceman" improved to 21-5 with the victory, while Silva fell to 31-8-1 after his third consecutive loss.