UFC Chatter: Liddell Eyes Bout With ‘Shogun’
“He’s already said he’ll be back in the gym next Monday. He’s going to fight again, hopefully as soon as possible, maybe in December. We’re looking at ‘Shogun.’ Chuck will face anyone they put in front of him.
You’re dealing with a guy that just lost a fight, is totally depressed right after a humongous loss. Of course, he’s disappointed. We didn’t get into details about the fight, especially after a loss, because that’s not the time you want to talk about it. We usually talk about it when we get back in the gym.
I think things went wrong with Keith Jardine. Keith Jardine came out and fought like a freakin’ killer. Chuck just couldn’t pull the trigger in time and was just a hair off and Jardine’s timing was perfect.”
— Chuck Liddell’s longtime trainer and friend John Hackleman comments on talks of Liddell’s retirement following his loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 76 and his possible return at UFC 79 against Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
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I like this matchup. Chuck will retire if he loses again. He looke bad against Jardine. He looked scared to get knocked out. I think Ramapage knocking him out did a number on him mentally. There were plenty of times when Chuck could have exploded like he usually does, but was hesitant. Thats why he lost that fight. I am huge Iceman fan….but the decision should have been unanomous. I sure hope he gets back and starts knocking people out again. I like Shogun too……that fight could go either way.
I think he will retire with another loss, but only temporarily. He’ll take around a year off then pull a “Natural” and come back. Will be as Couture was? It’s unlikely simply because Couture is a rarity but I think he will still have a lot of power when he returns and could become champion a year or so down the road.
callme crazy but i think shogun is a harder fight for him then agaist jardine, i agree that he will retire with another loss but he will come back later, i also beleve the only thing that is stoping “The Iceman” is himself if he beats shogun i beleve he could go on a win streak and posibly get the belt back if he retires is think he is definitly a hall of famer in my oppinion the greatest knock out artist to ever grace the UFC
I think if Chuck ever wants to be a success in the octagon again, he might want to go train somewhere new and work on expanding his game. Hackelman is a great trainer, but he is also Chucks friend. Chuck needs to be pushed like never before and needs a new fire to ignite he spirit. If Rua fixes whatever was wrong with him, I can’t see Chuck beating him. Rua was very unlike his normal unstoppable, untiring force. Not to take anything away from Forrest, but Rua just wasn’t himself. I think that would be a better fight for Chuck than Wanderlie though. Hopefully all of these fighters get there desire to win back. I am a fan of certain fighters, but I am more of a fan of the sport. I really don’t care who wins, as long as it is a good fight.
Kris, Do you know of anything wrong with SHogun in that fight? Did he break a rib or anything to slow him down like that?? I agreee with everyone else when I say that was not the Shogun we have seen in the past.
Nothing happened as far as I know. His trainer said no major injuries. As an onlooker he flat out gassed and wasn’t conditioned. I think it’s as simple as that
There has been some great points raised here….I agree with Napoa, The Rua fight would be a harder fight for chuck than the Jardine fight in all area’s, as Chuck likes to stand up were Rua can do both the Stand and Ground which he will certainly do if this fight happens, Chuck who I have admired over the years has in my opinion come to the cross roads in his career, there are so many great Light heavyweights out there and I feel that Chuck unfortunately is past his Prime and a lot of fighters out there now have his number. One more loss and I feel that spells the end for the Great Chuck Liddell.
I would love to see this fight. I think that Liddell took Jardine lightly. Stylistically Jardine is a guy who will come at you and then run away. Jardine came at Liddell with leg kicks and it threw Liddell completely off.
Liddell was expecting Jardine to engage with him the whole fight and Jardine didn’t do that. Jardine picked his spots to engage with Liddell; I give Jardine all the credit in the world. Jardine had a perfect fight plan and Liddell’s fight plan was to find one opening and knock Jardine out. I was very confident that Liddell would win. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Jardine giving Liddell all he could handle.
I think a fight with Shogun will motivate Liddell a lot more than it motivated him for Jardine, that’s for sure. As much as I would love to see this fight, I don’t know if the UFC wants to risk Liddell losing three fights in a row. Also, I don’t think the UFC wants to risk Shogun losing back to back fights in the UFC. The UFC is in a huge mess with Cro Cop because how can they market a fighter that got KTFO’ed by Gonzaga and then loses his next fight to Kongo? Hopefully we see Shogun vs. Liddell, but I have my doubts.
“…He looked scared to get knocked out…”
Well, Jardine did drop his ass in the 2nd round.
With that said, I think that a fight with Sho-Gun would be a much easier fight for Chuck than the Jardine fight was.
Liddell is a counter puncher, and Sho-Gun relentlessly goes forward in all of his fights. He will run into a Chuck right hand.
Jardine, just sat there and chopped at Chucks legs. Sho-Gun will push ahead and he will eventually get dropped by Liddell.
No way is Shogun an easier fight than Jardine, Obviously you havent seen any of his Pride fights to see what this Guy is capable of, The guy can be an Animal and has powers in the stand up game and on the ground, dont just come to a conclusion on the guy after just one fight, he has a lot to offer, Chuck on the other hand is on a slippery slope one more loss and I think that could spell the end for Mr liddell.
“…Obviously you havent seen any of his Pride fights to see what this Guy is capable of…”
Obviously, I have seen all of his fights, genius. His style is a much better match up for Chuck than Jardines was.
Sho-gun is a wild striker who comes forward relentlessly. Liddell is a counter puncher with great power while bakcing up. Sho-Gun is a much better match-up for Chuck.
Sorry you don’t understand MMA and the strengths and weaknesses of certain fighters.
Chuck may have thought he had won the first two rounds and simply didn’t let his go in the third. Or, coming off a KO and then going down in the second, he may just have been second guessing himself. I don’t know, but he didn’t look like the old Chuck.
He needs a couple easy opponents to get his confidence back. Rua is too dangerous right now.
F*** Shogan!!!!! It looking like he is ducking Wanderlai now….
Well Accomando if you did know your MMA which obviously you don’t you wouldn’t have come out with such a ridiculous comment as you did. Chuck although I respect the guy, should and was fired up for the fight against Jardine as he had to get back on the winning trail again. The bottom line is he lost and must win his next fight, now if that fight is Rua then he has got problems and in my opinion of what I have seen of Rua he is capable of ending Chucks career. so Accomando do your research before you write your comment!
Mr. T,
I pity the fools, like you.
You have not refuted a single thing I have wrote, you simply state….
“…of what I have seen of Rua he is capable of ending Chucks career…”
Wow, great. Let me guess, you saw him stomp arona, or did you watch when he beat on diabate or overeem?
No, you probably saw his one fight with Ramapage, where Sho-gun destroyed him, and being the genius you are, used your MMAth, and most likely came up with..
“..since chuck lost to rampage twice and sho-gun beat rampage with ease, this is a no-brainer, Sho-gun will kill Liddell…”
Since this is most likely your reasoning, here is some food for thought, Sho-Gun got his ass tapped out by Babalu. The same Babalu that Liddell absolutely destroyed, twice.
Someone using your logic could state..
“…I think Liddell will win this one easily, since he beat Babalu twice, who beat Sho-gun, total no-brainer…”
See the faults in your logic yet?
Here’s a tip, look at the match-up, not the previous fights.
Mauricio will relentlessly push forward with strikes that won’t KO Chuck, and Liddell will counter punch, and eventually catch him; and he will KO Sho-gun’s over-anxious ass.
Lets try to stay away from personal attacks. I know arguments can get heated but stick to the MMA, lets not make this get ugly.
I think Mr T and Accomando should fight eachother
i think this would be a great fight a tough one to call but chuck is far from done and it might be what he needs.sho gun is good but griffin showed he can be beaten!
I like your reply figure 4, it made me laugh, as for Accomando I aint going to stoop down to your level as I can tell by your comments your a guy who cant take criticism, all I will say on this matter is if you cant debate then dont post on this forum as uneducated idiots like yourself arnt welcome.
“…I aint going to stoop down to your level……as uneducated idiots like yourself arnt welcome….”
Hypocrite.
And nice cop-out by the way.
Your ignorance was proven when you assumed that I had only seen 1 Sho-Gun fight. I then went on to specifically name different fighters Sho-Gun has fought to demonstrate the fact that I have seen almost every single one of his fights, including all 3 of his losses.
You gave your worthless oppinion, thats it, congrats.
I know you don’t want to debate because you have nothing worhtwhile to say.
-End communication-
To Accomando and Mr. T………..
You are both being hypocrytes and childish. One says I’m not going to stoop to your level and call you names, but still takes the time to call the other a POOPIE PANTS, or a B-Fer. You both need to realize (the past year should have proven this) that an MMA fight is sooooo good because the odds are so much more even than any other sport(not gambling odds, but actual odds of either athlete winning) I have comments set to post in my E-Mail and I am sick of listening to the 2 of you.
And you haven’t even heard all of it as some of it has had to be edited or deleted outright. I try to let everyone comment freely but if it continues I will not hesitate to temporarily ban the people involved from posting comments.
Come on guys, enough is enough.
Kris,
I know I have freaked out a couple of times, but what’s with these people. It all strted after Bisbing/Hammil 1. What Gives?
I see him “retiring” if he loses again. By retiring, I mean taking a bit of time off and making a comeback.
I wonder if he’d follow the path of Randy Couture, put on some weight and join the ranks of the heavyweights. It might be a good fit for him if he continues to have issues in his current weight class.
The only problem with that is Randy is an exceptional natural (pardon the pun) heavyweight, who dropped to lightweight as a sacrificial lamb for Liddell in their first match. Randy was never supposed to have a two year winning streak in the lightheavy division, let alone beat Chuck. Couture is a much better fighter as a Heavyweight, and I am affraid if Chuck gained weight, he would have serious problems. He is already loseing his speed and timming, and if he moved up, I think it would get worse.