Chuck Liddell on Dancing with the Stars

Did you see Chuck Liddell on Dancing with the Stars Monday night? The UFC mixed martial arts fighter recently made his graceful debut on ABC's hit show, entering an open floor arena without the cage, where there's a lot less intense physical contact, and more ballet-style precision moves involved. Liddell is teamed up with professional dancer Anna Trebunskaya for the ninth season of the popular television show which has a variety of celebrities learning to dance, and then being graded on their performances. The viewers across the country also vote for their favorites. Each week a pair of dancers will be eliminated from the show based on lowest scores, which probably won't hurt Liddell as much as losing a UFC match might.

For this latest season of the show, Liddell joins other celebrities who include R&B singer Mya, actor/comedian Ashley Hamilton, singer Aaron Carter, politician Tom Delay, former NFL star Michael Irvin, and singer Kelly Osbourne. In a behind the scenes preview of DWTS Season 9, Liddell admitted he was more nervous than he thought he'd be. His partner, Anna said in the behind the scenes that she can tell Chuck absolutely doesn't have a feminine side, after practicing with him for weeks. She said they'll keep it graceful but masculine. After all dancing involves a totally different focus than he's used to with more poise and grace, less aggressive violence.

So how has Chuck Lidell done on Dancing with the Stars? He and his partner Anna danced the Fox Trot, with Chuck decked out in a grey pinstripe suit with black hat as his prop, while Anna wore a long, blue dress. Video of the dance can be seen here at YouTube. As expected, Chuck received a lot of applause for his efforts, despite having trouble with the moves. In traditional "let's critique the poor dancing celeb fashion", the judges were not so kind to Chuck after his first dances were over. One judge indicated he needs to "get in touch with his feminine side", but as previously mentioned even Chuck's partner can't find one. Another judge said he had "very poor footwork" and one positive comment from the female judge said Chuck "knows how to work a woman". Unfortunately, Chuck and his dancing partner Anna were given scores of 6, 5, and 5 out of a possible 10 from the three judges. The only male celebrity to score lower was Ashley Hamilton, actor/comedian son of George Hamilton. Liddell recently commented on his Twitter page that "1st night is over, damn I was nervous but my kids and friends loved it :)' hopefully I'll be there next week to show the judges I can do this". It's unknown if Liddell will survive on Dancing with the Stars past Wednesday night, but they may be up to his fans out there voting for him just for popularity, and entertainment's sake.

If you saw Chuck Liddell's performances on ABC's Dancing With the Stars, feel free to weigh in! Full video of the premiere episode of the hit ABC TV show can be seen at the Dancing with the Stars section of the ABC website.