Tweet
Poor Chuck Liddell...
Chuck Liddell Threatens Comeback
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)
Monday, June 21 8:55 am PT: There’s a perceived arrogance in spectators telling participants what they should or should not be doing -- an easy dynamic to resent. Not being a 39-year-old former champion on the receiving end of four TKOs, I’m not in a position to empathize with Chuck Liddell. I don’t know what he’s thinking. But it doesn’t sound good.
Liddell told Yahoo over the weekend that, despite comments by both Dana White and trainer John Hackleman, he is undecided about retirement. “I thought I did great before I was caught,” he said. “… I think I showed I can compete. I’m just not at a point to make that decision yet.”
When Liddell looked good in the early minutes of the Rich Franklin fight, I suspected it might be the worst possible outcome: despite not having a chin that can sustain any offense, Liddell has been encouraged by the idea he looked sharper and straighter than he had in years. He did, sure: but without an ability to suffer an attack, it’s irrelevant. (More to the point: He was knocked unconscious by a one-armed middleweight. This is not the kind of description that should put anyone on a path to glory as they near 40.)
Liddell has a crucial decision to make, and it’s about more than burning bridges with the UFC should he decide to ignore White’s imposed retirement plan: He is no longer in a position to offer up his increasingly fragile skull to the punishment of training or competing. (A “normal” neurological exam is a joke: the autopsied brains of football players and fighters reveals damage resembling Alzheimer’s.) He has kids and a future secured by a fortune timed to the UFC’s explosion in the latter half of the last decade. He’s incredibly fortunate in that he’s in a position to walk away. Time to start moving.
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)
Monday, June 21 8:55 am PT: There’s a perceived arrogance in spectators telling participants what they should or should not be doing -- an easy dynamic to resent. Not being a 39-year-old former champion on the receiving end of four TKOs, I’m not in a position to empathize with Chuck Liddell. I don’t know what he’s thinking. But it doesn’t sound good.
Liddell told Yahoo over the weekend that, despite comments by both Dana White and trainer John Hackleman, he is undecided about retirement. “I thought I did great before I was caught,” he said. “… I think I showed I can compete. I’m just not at a point to make that decision yet.”
When Liddell looked good in the early minutes of the Rich Franklin fight, I suspected it might be the worst possible outcome: despite not having a chin that can sustain any offense, Liddell has been encouraged by the idea he looked sharper and straighter than he had in years. He did, sure: but without an ability to suffer an attack, it’s irrelevant. (More to the point: He was knocked unconscious by a one-armed middleweight. This is not the kind of description that should put anyone on a path to glory as they near 40.)
Liddell has a crucial decision to make, and it’s about more than burning bridges with the UFC should he decide to ignore White’s imposed retirement plan: He is no longer in a position to offer up his increasingly fragile skull to the punishment of training or competing. (A “normal” neurological exam is a joke: the autopsied brains of football players and fighters reveals damage resembling Alzheimer’s.) He has kids and a future secured by a fortune timed to the UFC’s explosion in the latter half of the last decade. He’s incredibly fortunate in that he’s in a position to walk away. Time to start moving.
Comment