The Ultimate Fighter won't be taking home the ultimate prize on Dancing With the Stars. Chuck Liddell was eliminated on Tuesday night, leaving Season Nine with five men and five women remaining.

Liddell's score of 17 was the third-lowest on Monday night, but the two who scored beneath him, Michael Irvin and Louie Vito, were both spared from the bottom two (the other spot was taken by the flailing -- literally and figuratively -- Aaron Carter). Irvin has yet to really do anything well on the show, but is being saved by the fanbase that works to the benefit of all ex-football players who appear on DWtS, besides which he came close to being voted out last week, which no doubt spurred his fans to be more active in calling. Vito danced near the end of the show on Monday, and has performed better than Liddell in every week before this one. Liddell's fate may have been sealed by going first on Monday night.

It was clear from the first week of the season that Liddell was way out of his comfort zone on DWtS and had a distinct lack of natural grace, forcing him to try to advance by coming across, as past unlikely survivors like Jerry Springer did, as a decent guy who is trying hard and doing his best to entertain. His performances always left the audience smiling, even if it had to be acknowledged that his actual dancing content was usually lacking. His partner Anna Trebunskaya paid tribute to Liddell upon his elimination, saying "you are a gentle giant, you are my bear, you are my hippo." That's something you really can't say when a woman is voted out.

Viewers got a preview of next week's dances, the Argentine tango and the paso doble, performed by several of the pros, including Edyta Sliwinska and Cheryl Burke, who are missed on performance nights. Shakira showed off her latest single and her new straight hair, and the children of several of the contestants appeared in a piece about the importance of family backing. Liddell's daughter said that her dad could beat up our dad, but hopefully the elimination won't result in any violence.