UFC 54: What happened when Chuck Liddell clashed with Jeremy Horn in their long-awaited rematch?

The UFC was riding a wave of momentum into UFC 54 following a string of very successful events. Taking place on August 20, 2005 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, "Boiling Point" was a very entertaining show.

Spearheading the UFCs's charge into the mainstream was Chuck Liddell who had become a media sensation due to his entertaining, big punching style.

As one of the top names in the sport, he sought to banish the demons of his past and UFC, like they had at UFC 52 versus Randy Couture, set Liddell up to fight someone who he had lost to in the past. That man was Jeremy Horn.

Horn had beaten Liddell way back at UFC 19 in March 1999 with a choke. However, this time around Horn had no answer for Liddell's punching power and spent most of the fight on the defensive, rolling around on the mat. Eventually, Liddell caught Horn with his typical big-hitting in the fourth round to defend the Light Heavyweight title.

Underneath the headliner, Randy Couture returned to the Octagon following his loss of the Light-Heavyweight strap to Liddell to take on Mike Van Arsdale. In this bout, Couture earned a rare submission win, forcing Van Arsdale to submit to the Anaconda Choke, in the final round. Couture was back in the win column and this victory set up a rematch with Liddell for the Light Heavyweight belt at UFC 57.

The giant, Tim Sylvia smashed through Lion's Den member, Tra Trelligman and beat him- with a single second left in round one- with a highlight reel head kick. This put Sylvia back in the hunt for the Heavyweight strap.

The card opened with two Welterweight fights. The first of which saw rising star, George St. Pierre clash with Frank Trigg with a possible title shot on the line. It was a shock then that the fight was so one-sided. GSP dismantled Trigg with his superior strength and defences limiting any chances Trigg had in the contest. A choke finished Trigg off and put GSP on course to face Welterweight Champion, Matt Hughes.

The other Welterweight contest saw The Ultimate Fighter winner, Diego Sanchez with the unheralded Brian Gassaway. This was a mismatch and Sanchez, with his brutal striking skills, mauled his opponent until he earned the win with some beautiful elbows and punches.

UFC 54 performed well on pay per view with 150,000 buys.