Tito buy far simply bc he's never fought outside the UFC and it's always been his home since the dark days when he carried the company and saved it by being a great character and fighter 
to carried himself by ducking chuck. chuck fought everyone and ko'd most
Fights! - They both carried UFC at different times.
Without Tito there might not be a UFC anymore. I started buying the ppv's cause of him.
I say Tito. Ortiz was there first had some of the bigger PPV sales before Liddell did.
his first big fights with Frank and Wanderlei were huge
Both did but I think Tito carried them through their worst period.
Pre TUF=Tito
Post TUF=Chuck
tito
Lorenzo's wallet should be the correct answer.
Never started paying really close attention to the UFC/MMA until I saw Matt Hughes slam Carlos Newton off his neck. I've been hooked ever since. Before that, I was a casual fan.
Damaynevent - Never started paying really close attention to the UFC/MMA until I saw Matt Hughes slam Carlos Newton off his neck. I've been hooked ever since.I think you mean when Carlos Newton choked out that hick farmboy, and the country boy fell into victory.
In all fairness, it should be mentioned that nowhere does the interviewer use the word "carry" or "unsteady days." It's actually Dana who says, "Chuck Liddell was the guy who really carried this thing on his back for the early years when we were getting this thing off the ground."
The discussion starts around 11:30 into the interview and the interviewer asks about who is that "one transcendent star" similar to Payton Manning, or Tom Brady from the NFL where you mention that name and people from any background know who that person is. Who is that person for the UFC?
Then Dana immediately turns around an answers:
"I would have to say Chuck Liddell. Chuck Liddell was the guy who really carried this thing on his back for the early years when we were getting this thing off the ground. We had some guys who were big stars but Chuck was really the man. Chuck was the guy with that look and everything else. When people saw him you knew that was the Ultimate Fighting guy."
The end of the interview gets kinda funny when they start talking about the underbelly of boxing vs MMA. Dana references how many of its fighters are educated people who could go on to do other things if they weren't fighters, and then Petros describes the press conferences at any boxing match similar to the people who would be at the visiting room of a prison.
horsesteroids - Tito, by far.
First off, to the common man, Chuck looks like a guy who fixes your car. Tito has that cocky athlete swagger.
Secondly, the Lion's Den feud was big for it's time. Yes it was very soap opera-y but it made people want to see Ortiz fight Ken Shamrock, people who were willing to pay. Even though unsuccessful by today's standards, 140,000 buys was monster for an MMA PPV in its day.
Third, Tito had an aura about him that Chuck just doesn't have. Don't get me wrong, Chuck seems like a good enough guy and all but he lacks the general superstar quality Tito can muster. I'm not saying that Chuck isn't nor wasn't popular as his fights saw very good consistent buyrates but his biggest draw was versus Tito. Just saying.
Before any flames, this is about who was the bigger star and more important to carrying the UFC and not to better fighter or more legendary.
i could not agree more.... the only thing i will say is that ken shamrock was just as responsible for the ufc doing so well cause every time he fought he did hudge numbers.... at the time of ufc 40 not that many people really knew who tito ortiz was but ken was very well known from the wwf and people wanted to see him fight. also ken vs kimo did moore ppv buys than tito vs chuck 1.... t.u.f 3 was the highest rated season ever at the time.... ken was on the first t.u.f fianle did hudge numbers, i know the bonner griffen fight did alot for that nite but ken was the headliner. ken vs tito 2 did well, and ken vs tito 3 was the most watched one of the highest rated fights ever....im not saying ken did more than tito or chuck but he schould be in the convorsation
There is a reason why Chuck did not fight Tito sooner when he desreved the shot at Tito's title. Reason is Tito was the posetr boy and Chuck was not that popular at the time. If Chuck had won (and they knew he was a really bad matchup for Tito) then ratings would have dropped. They Needed Tito as the champ at that time. With that said Chuck came on really strong and imo they both did an amazing job pushing our sport to where it is today.
For those that think Chuck all the way ask yourself... why didn't Chuck fight Tito sooner? Imo Most of people that pick Chuck over Tito in this discussion are picking him cause they are a fan of his and not a fan of Tito's.
Tito vs. Ken at UFC 40 made the UFC. Chuck was awesome as well, but you can thank Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock for where the UFC is today. If UFC 40 had failed MMA would still be an underground sport.
Tito for sure. Although when Chuck was on top he seemed invincible.
They both did. But to be fair the feud they had with each other brought a ton of attention to the sport
Chocolate Al, I stopped watching around the time Tito was the main star. (dark days) I remember seeing him in a jet li movie though.
KNEEBAR - Solid post man! I am not a Tito maniac however. I am just calling it like I saw it. Even if some of you despise Tito and/or Chuck - at least respect the fact that without them we May not be where we are today! Seriously!
With that said I checked the time line. I personally think Tito went way overboard with the whole friend thing. Chuck said "he's not my friend." If someone said that about me I would not keep protesting that I was. Whether the UFC or Tito (and I believe you) didn't allow that fight to happen, it was more because a Tito loss was probable. The oddsmakers had that 1 all wrong. Tito was actually still the favorite in their 1st fight when in fact I knew he was the dog (I couldn't Western Union cash fast enought to the off shore bet site! LOL)
I just thought The UFC had more to do with it than Tito! Or at the very lkeast the UFC didn't mind Tito ducking him - more time for them to have their champ!
Tito for sure. Dana has stated that UFC 40 was when they knew it would be successful.
And with all due respect people were not buying UFC 40 for Chuck/Babalu!