Chuck Liddell began studying Koei-Kan karate at the age of 12; the tattoo seen on his scalp reads "Koei-Kan". He was a four year starter on the football team at San Marcos High School. While growing up in Santa Barbara, he often frequented the infamous Del Playa Drive, the middle of the party scene of the college town of Isla Vista, where he often found himself in fights with drunk college students. He became a Division I wrestler at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business/Accounting in 1995. When Liddell started his MMA career, he began to train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under John Lewis in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Chuck Liddell made his UFC debut in 1998 with a decision victory over Noe Hernandez. Despite a submission loss to Jeremy Horn shortly after, Liddell began establishing his reputation as a devastating striker with victories over Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, and Renato Sobral over the next few years.

The UFC tried to arrange a title bout with then-champion Tito Ortiz, but Ortiz cited scheduling conflicts. To force Ortiz's hand, they created an interim light heavyweight championship and matched Liddell with experienced wrestler and former heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 43. Couture neutralized Liddell's hooks with straight punches and eventually began taking him down at will. Couture eventually gained full mount and forced a referee stoppage due to strikes.

After this defeat, Liddell entered the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament as the official UFC representative. After defeating Alistair Overeem in the first round of the tournament, Liddell was eliminated in the next round by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, losing by corner stoppage, when his corner threw in the towel.

Returning to the UFC, Chuck was, once again, put in contention for the light heavyweight title, preparing for a match with former champion Tito Ortiz. The men had once trained together at the Pitfight Club and experienced a falling out that escalated as Ortiz taunted Liddell. The falling out stemmed from Ortiz's unwillingness to give Liddell a title fight, despite Liddell's status as a top contender in the UFC. Eventually, after Ortiz lost the title to Randy Couture, the two would meet in a highly anticipated fight at UFC 47 on April 2, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After most of the first round was spent feeling each other out, Liddell threw a few punches and a kick which was blocked by Ortiz, with Ortiz slapping himself on the head, taunting Liddell. When the round ended Ortiz pushed referee "Big" John McCarthy out of his way into Liddell and yelled while Liddell exchanged some words. Shortly after the second round started, Liddell threw a flurry of punches which knocked Ortiz down and led to a TKO victory. Tito has stated that Chuck's thumb made contact with one of Tito's eyes, causing him to momentarily see "nothing but black". Since UFC 47, the bad blood between both fighters remained, with Ortiz repeatedly stating that he wanted "his" belt back. Despite the tension, Ortiz and Liddell would not fight again for two and a half years.