Opinion: Liddell Will Never Reclaim A UFC Title
First and foremost, I’m obligated like every other keyboard warrior in the blogosphere to formally apologize to Rashad Evans for not giving him a snowball’s chance in hell at winning on Saturday night. There, official kudos have been dished out, all is well.
Now everyone else and their mother are forecasting the blank future for Liddell, so I won’t bore you with my thoughts on that matter. What I will say is that it unless Liddell can somehow completely alter his preferred fighting style, he might want to hang up those 4.5 ounce gloves and check out the coaching scene more thoroughly, because UFC gold is simply no longer in his scope of possibility.
It was only a matter of time
See I have this friend, Sheldon. Sheldon is an avid boxer as well as a pretty big MMA aficionado, though he admittedly prefers the sweet science over mixed martial arts any day of the week. Never without a bone to pick, Sheldon has always been particularly critical of the “sloppy†boxing element displayed by mixed martial artists. Most notably, Sheldon and I have found ourselves arguing about who else but Chuck Liddell — as Liddell is best known for his knockout prowess despite having what Sheldon and I’m sure many others deem an absolutely terrible striking style — which is kind of true when you think about it.
Liddell holds his hands entirely too low, throws shots one can spot from miles away, and his target zones are left open wider than a waistband at Lane Bryant. Nevertheless, I usually retaliated to Sheldon’s argument by stating that regardless of Liddell’s technical lacking, the man stands/stood atop the proverbial ladder for a long, long time, so the guy must be doing something right. And so, Sheldon and I sort of agreed to disagree that sooner or later, this style of Chuck’s would be thoroughly exposed for its weakness and, ultimately, exploited.
As we all already know, that time has come and gone with one swift, brain-rattling blow from heavy underdog, Rashad Evans. Now I do not believe by any measure that “Sugar†is the future of the UFC. In my opinion Evans is really too small for the LHW class, and is at best a constant hanger-on to the bottom end of the top ten. Contrary, I think what we all witnessed on Saturday night is simply the result of placing a quick and patient man inside the cage with someone who just doesn’t have any surprises left for the competition.
Darwin would not be proud
Like Tito Ortiz, the man Liddell trounced with ease on two separate occasions, Chuck has unfortunately failed to evolve in terms of what works best inside the octagon. The Iceman’s intimidating knock out power worked and worked and worked in the UFC, as Liddell once boasted a three year, seven fight winning streak with no end in sight.
But not too long ago a guy by the name of Quinton Jackson stepped in with Chuck and knew, just as we all now do, that Liddell’s one trick pony style was really nothing to be afraid of. And the results speak for themselves. The fighters who have knocked out Liddell in the past and those who might knock him out in the future may or may not be of champion-level caliber, it’s just that, like King Hippo or Don Flamingo, the man’s style is so blatantly figured out that it now sits primed for all to come and try their hand at picking apart.
Lets face it, there is video available for every single one of Chuck Liddell’s 27 MMA bouts. Opponents can watch hours of tape, adjust appropriately, and take it right to The Iceman, and they won’t be afraid to do so either. Whether the opponent is ready to go for the gusto like Rashad or Jackson, or simply content to leg-kick en route to a decision like Jardine, Liddell will surely find himself unable to beat any real contenders from here out. Let alone, will he himself be able to capture that precious gold-plated strap that so many in his division are more qualified to wield.
I hate to say it, but…
Age, heart, work ethic- these are not any of the real causes to Chuck’s recent follies. After all, just nine months ago Liddell reclaimed the spotlight after picking up a win over Wanderlei Silva, no easy task.
But Rashad Evans’ brutal knockout did more than just mark another L on Liddell’s impressive record. It let everyone out there who didn’t already know that in mixed martial arts today, you have to be a damn near perfect sort of animal with little to no weakness if you are to stay at the top of the MMA food chain. Just take a look at some of the other title holders in the business: St. Pierre, Penn, Silva, Faber, Emelianenko — those guys are absolute machines and true epitome’s of what a champion mixed martial artist must become.
Sadly, Liddell no longer embodies the same essential qualities. Not by a long shot.
I like how when you said look at the other champions…..and you did not mention Forrest. If Chuck were to fight Forrest, he would reclaim the title….but we all know thats not gonna happen anymore.
Im a huge chuck fan..but i also think its time for him to hang up the gloves..was so upset to see him lose
Liddell is a counter-puncher. The way to beat him is to make him come to you.
Did you see how visibly frustrated he was that Rashad didn’t come charging in to eat his fists? That is the key to defeating him. Make him move forward, where he has relatively few skills and very poor defense.
Yes, unless he starts to adjust (and I would go so far as to say LEARN), he will be done. I just hope he doesn’t go the way of Ken Shamrock.
I’m not the world’s biggest Chuck fan, and the assertion that he is a one trick pony is fairly accurate. However, the heavier weight classes are essentially a boxing match not MMA. The manner in which Rashad disposed of Chuck is the same as Cuck could have potentially disposed of Rashad. As noted the chorus of ‘boos’ were sure to ensue had the fight continued in the manner it did, as all Rashad was doing was waiting for an opening and not engaging Chuck.
Chuck’s days are numbered at LHW.
He does not have the speed for the LHW
maybe a last hurrah at HW could be an option for Chuck or maybe he can fight a can and retire on a win.
I’m glad Chuck lost in a way as i always had this feeling he felt this fight was beneath him especially after top level fights with Rampage & Silva.
He didn’t look motivated as he was in the Silva fight he looked frustrated with Rashad’s cowardly fighting style.
Credit to Rashad he will always have a win over Chuck no matter how lucky he was….
It doesn’t look good…but as we all know from watching this sport never say never…
FixXer,
What are you talking about? I’m a huge Forrest Griffin fan but I’m also a Chuck Liddell fan, but how can you say that if they fought, Chuck would for sure win the title back? Forrest would have dismantled him just like he’s gonna do the Rashad.
I LOVE Chuck Liddell and think he’s an awesome face for the UFC but I can’t really argue this article (as much as I’d like to). I was surprised to see during the replays that Chuck’s left hand was at his waist. If he’s going to engage fighters like that… he’s asking to be KO’ed. Rashad didn’t get lucky… he was able to exploit an obvious mistake and if it wasn’t during that exchange it would’ve been the next the way Chuck was dropping his hands.
Chuck might be up there with Matt Hughes at this point where a formerly dominant fighter is now getting owned because they haven’t adapted and taken on other styles. Chuck losing 3 of his last 4, to me, is another passing of the torch to the younger fighters.
I am not sure if its an age or a Time/Economics problem for fighters like Chuck. Too many things to do for the upper ranked fighters other than put in the time to adapt the game. Say 6 weeks in New Mexico working on clinch transitions vs Six weeks on location trying to be the next Tony Ja. Sure the training means a win (Short run) but if the movie takes off that means way more $(Long Run).
I am a Liddell fan but I strongly disagree with the notion that he would beat Forrest Griffin at this time.
No, Forrest Griffin doesn’t finish fights with his knockout power by any means. But Forrest’s game-plan going into bouts is damn near flawless. He picked apart Hernandez with leg kicks. He gassed Shogun and submitted him in impressive style. He stood toe to toe with Rampage and out-scored his stand-up. Two of the most highly regarded LHW mind you.
All it took for Forrest was to get carelessly knocked out by Jardine for him to adjust his style and fine tune his game plan going into fights. Something Chuck Liddell has never been able to do. Let’s face it, Chuck is a one trick pony, and that trick no longer poses an element of surprise. Forrest on the other hand comes in and capitalizes on his opponents weaknesses.
I do give Sugar Rashad a ton of credit for his recent knockout over Chuck Liddell and must admit I was one of many to under-estimate him in that fight. With that being said, I just don’t see Rashad having any chance at all to beat Forrest Griffin. The sheer size and reach advantage alone make this an easy stand up battle for Forrest. Lot’s of leg kicks in the near future for Rashad’s tree trunk like thighs. Rampage’s wrestling game couldn’t stop Forrest’s sprawl, so can Rashad’s? Doubtful in my eyes. Can Rashad really stand for 5 rounds doing all that pointless, show-boating upper body movement or will he too gas? I am predicting a 5 round war with Forrest winning by decision yet again.
Bottom-line, a champion doesn’t have to be dominant like Anderson Silva to have a successful title reign. A champion needs to come into a fight with a game-plan specifically tailored to the fighter he is stepping into the octagon with. What will work best in that specific fight. Unfortunately for Chuck Liddell he is just too one dimensional a fighter and his weaknesses have now been exposed for the world to see.
Notice I didn’t even bother discussing the potential Liddell vs Griffin match-up either. I thought it was pointless as it won’t be taking place.
Clearly the game plan of Greg Jackson was a big part of the success. They planned to counter-strike, baited Chuck before the fight, and then let him become the aggressor leaving himself open.
Props to Rashad, although for some reason he has always been hard to cheer for … really hard to identify why, and it is definatly not because of Matt Hughes comment. There is now no doubt that he has really worked hard to make himself into a excellent MMA fighter and deserves a shot.
Stunning and brutal knock-out.
I say give him RICH FRANKLIN they are both done…
I think we all need to take a deep breath… and exhale… again… and exhale… This wasn’t Chuck’s first loss and it probably won’t be his last. It seems like every time an icon loses a match, he’s done… that’s it… it’s over… Hang up the gloves. Step aside and let a younger guy take over. Liddell left his guard down by his waist, which he has done many times before and got away with it and Evans threw an overhand right… which he practiced over and over — not a lucky punch by any means… and down went Chuck. He didn’t die… He just got caught and knocked out. Chuck will be back and his guard will be up. If he hits Rashad or Jardine or anybody else with a solid right, they’ll go down. Whomever he fights next will have to be looking for that inevitable right… It’s coming.
Don’t sell Rashad short. The guy is 17-0-1. Yes he got lucky against Ortiz because Herb Dean took a point away when Ortiz grabbed the fence. That’s Herb Dean, a good ref, but always making a big mistake. As it turned out, Dean’s knee-jerk decision to take a point away changed the outcome of the fight and ultimately took a victory away from Ortiz and took a defeat away from Evans. Fighters grab the fence all the time. It happens in virtually every fight, but in this one big fight, Dean decided to do something. That’s the difference between luck and strategy… Rashad got lucky against Ortiz, he used strategy against Liddell.
Liddell will look at the film of the fight. He and Hackleford will see the right coming over Chuck’s guard and a light bulb will come on. They’ll decide Chuck needs to carry his hands a little higher. Chuck will fight again… maybe against Kongo or maybe a rematch with Jardine, but whoever it is will reap the right hand of the Iceman. He’ll work his way back up and contend again.
What we don’t know is exactly how good are Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin. We’ll soon know how good one of them is… so will he reign supreme until somebody knocks him out? If that happens, there will be those voices… He’s too old… The game has passed him by… He should step aside…
But then we look to the side and what do we see? Randy Couture as the heavyweight champion at 45 years of age… At least 2 fights removed from getting knocked out by… Chuck Liddell… Still bringing it even after those same voices… He’s too old… The game has passed him by… He should step aside…
Chuck has lost 3 of his last 4. One of those was to Rampage Jackson who beat Chuck before. Rampage seems to have Chuck’s number just like Chuck has Couture’s number… One loss was to keith Jardine. Did Chuck look past Jardine? Was his concentration on that fight? It didn’t look like old age lost that fight in a split decision, it looked like lack of preperation lost it… And the third loss was a devasting knock out to Rashad Evans. Evans camp realized that Liddell kept his hands too low and if they could get Liddell to chase Evans he could throw that overhand right and put Liddell down. It worked. If hours of study and planning and training can be considered luck, then Rashad was very lucky. It’s been said that luck is when ppreperation meets opportunity. It’s also been said that the harder one works, the luckier one gets. Chuck Liddell just needs to work a little harder on the preperation and he’ll be fine.
Relax and enjoy the game. Chuck will step down and hang up the gloves someday. Until then, just enjoy the competition. He got caught. He’s still a factor if he wants to be.
Good post
Eric you are a wise dude, it is true. continue to the do the same trick and the kids will learn your techinique. it is time for these older fighters to know when to give it up, it can become dangerous for them.
… He’s too old… The game has passed him by… He should step aside…
If it was up to guys that say that junk, nobody would have more than 1 loss…
Three things you must do to limit your chances of being knocked out. Never through an uppercut from outside, never rock back on your heels, and never keep your chin pointed up. All three of these things Chuck was doing when he got knocked out. I love to watch the guy but I bought the last fight of his fight that I will but at $44.95
Another good post…Larry I think the next one you buy he will be a bonus not the reason itself.
I find it funny that people say Chuck would beat Forrest… keeping in mind a week ago everyone was saying Chuck would destroy Rashad. Slow learners.
People say stuff… We all say stuff. Fighters decide who’s right and who’s wrong. Rashad Evans is over-rated… Chuck Liddell is over the hill… Anderson Silva is unbeatable at any weight class… Statemnets like that are almost always proven to be wrong. Guys like Randy Couture… over the hill… and Forrest Griffin… over-rated keep proving them wrong over and over, but we keep saying them. I guess that’s all part of the enjoyment… We get to sat whatever we want and the fighters will still be the ones the decide who’s right and who’s wrong.
Chuck is NOT DONE! He is a fighter who got KO…..what is it? A BIG f-ing deal? Sure it was KO of the year but that is no reason be a quitter. We as fans should know better than to think Chuck would quit because of this! That is ridiculous. Everyone who thinks Chuck is retiring because of one vicious loss needs to do the following:
Get up and go look yourself in a mirror.
Slap your face really hard 5 times.
Hammer fist your own balls 3 times.
Smash your head through a wall.
Then come back here and start your thought process over.
Great post, i enjoyed reading it and you were dead on abuot what you said. as a matter of fact, the only reason i think he even beat wandy is b/c wandy was lloking more to just put on a great fight for the fans since the matchup was hyped up for so many years, therefore he didn’t mind going at chuck.
rashad on the other hand was looking to solidify himself as one of the great and no matter what anyone may say about him, no one has EVER ko’d chuck THAT BAD, not even rampage!!!
Eric,
Good article. I am glad you brought boxing into it. That is all I was posting yesterday….
I come from a family of boxers and they critique the F–K out of Chuck. Many of us here fail to realize Chuck is the face of MMA to most people who do not follow the sport closely like those of us here. I’ve gone round for round in arguments over MMA and Boxing but at the end of the day…..football/rugby…….transgender/transsexual……APPLES AND ORANGES! They are two completely different sports. Unfortunately for Chuck, he was approached by Rashad who fought like a boxer making Chuck’s style useless and too vulnerable for attack. Seriously……Chuck needs to move up. I know many disagree but what is he going to do in the LHW division now? Hammill? Bonnar? Irvin? Give me a break…..HE’s the ICEMAN!
Chuck lost saturday night,that’s a fact. But i still think Chuck can beat Evans every time the face eachother. Chuck should just take his training more seriously and not underestimate his opponents. chuck i think has 3 more years at least left in him. He will be back,for sure.
Rashad Evans is over-rated… He is… by some. Some think he’s the Ali of MMA. Maybe he is, but even Ali lost a few times. Some think he’s under-rated… and he is… I didn’t give him any chance against Chuck Liddell. I was still thinking of Rashad Evans as that guy that won TUF with all his flaws. He’s been working since then. His trainers have brought him along slowly and now he’s the #1 contender. He deserves it. Is Chuck Liddell over the hill? Some say he is, but Randy Couture might have something else to say. The number of a fighter’s age isn’t what defines him, it’s how he fights back from adversity that defines him. Chuck’s loss to Rashad doesn’t define whether or not he’s over the hill, how Chuck fight’s back will determine whether he’s over the hill or not.
I agree DolfanG but….
He hasn’t bounced back well lately. He refused to change anything about his fighting style, despite losing 2 out of 3. The Jardine loss was exactly what Rogan intimated during the PPV. The beginning of fighters learning how to defeat him, by training together and exploiting the same weakness.
Now after that fight, there is a template. Watch the Jardine and Evans fights and find the similarities. Let the great counter-puncher become mediocre when forced to come forward. Frustrate him by not playing into the same game plan he has had for nearly 10 years.
Can he change? More importantly, will he change? He hasn’t been willing to yet. And if he doesn’t, this article is 100% accurate.
Liddell has been so successful for so long that he probably didn’t feel the need to change anything. He has to realize that he needs to keep his guard up and make the other fighter come to him. A split decision loss means nothing. It proves nothing. A one-punch knock-out means a heck of a lot. Liddell will be back… with a vengence and with his gueard up and waiting for his opponent to come to him.
I probably sound like a Chuck Liddell fan, but believe me, I’m not. I’m not against him either. I’m just a schmuck with a keyboard that likes to watch MMS, but I’ll also tell you what I see and what I think. Maybe I’m wrong… we’ll see…
its amazing how one loss admittedly a devastating one and everyone says your done. i still think that chuck would beat a lot of lhws out there and would have a good chance against griffin. sometimes fighters get hit and kod it happens. i still think most people would go with chuck if he was matched with a lot of the lhw division.