Liddell Needs to Impress in April
Chuck Liddell
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is set to face off against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in Montreal as the main event of UFC 97 on April 18th. Many fight fans have already mentioned their feelings that if Rua doesn’t impress at the event, it could be his last fight in the UFC. What most people hadn’t considered is that Liddell might be in a similar situation.
Liddell was at one point the highest paid fighter in the UFC, and essentially the face of the organization. “The Iceman” had been on a tear, knocking out everyone that stood across the cage from him – including Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture twice – from April of 2004 through December of 2006. Since his December 2006 TKO victory over Tito Ortiz, Liddell has gone without a knock out victory, and been knocked out twice compiling a 1-3 record after that date.
All of this has lead up to an article published by Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press on Saturday. In the article Davidson said that UFC president Dana White had spoken to The Canadian Press regarding Liddell’s upcoming bout in April:
UFC president Dana White says the Iceman needs to put on a show north of the border.
“I’ve made it very clear to Chuck. Very clear,” White told The Canadian Press. “It’s not about money, it’s not about this, that. Chuck is one of my good friends. Chuck (has) cemented his legacy in the UFC and in the fight game. I’m not even saying if he wins, unless he looks incredibly impressive (in Montreal) – I mean, he’s going to have to go out there and dazzle me, for me to want Chuck to still fight.”
“I love him, and I don’t want to see what I saw in his last fight ever again,” he added.
While “incredibly impressive” is still a subjective term, White hasn’t given himself much wiggle room if Liddell doesn’t do well on April 18th. That said, White gave no indication of what the potential repercussions of a poor showing might be, outside of him losing a desire for Liddell to fight. That doesn’t mean that the UFC isn’t still interested in Liddell being on payroll, just maybe as an announcer instead of a fighter. There is also still the possibility that White is just trying to motivate Liddell in the hopes that he will, in fact, impress and he won’t have to do anything in terms of removing “The Iceman” from the Octagon.
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i read that as dana saying that an unimpressive chuck may be taking a pay cut when he comes up for renegotiation while an impressive chuck may still have some room for some major windfalls
i know he said it isnt about money but on some level it has to be
There is no way the UFC is going to drop Chuck because if they do he is without a doubt going to be picked up by another promotion, and even tough he is not the fighter he was he still has a huge fanbase and is a major draw. I am sure Affliction would get huge PPV numbers if they put on Fedor vs Liddell, and as for him being an announcer i think he or the UFC would want that
that would never happen. ufc has the right too all of chucks old fights so they would have no way to promote it. plus fedor-chuck will never happen. fedor is just going to rock everyone and retire in 2-3 years as the greatest heavyweight ever, and one of the greatest pound for pound.
i think chucks days are numbered as well. the young blood is coming up. jon jones i mean wow! 21 year old kid, only been training for a little over a year! chuck would sadly lose to forrest, rashad again, jackson again, jardine again, machida would tko him, and i know for sure henderson and franklin would get him too. matt hamill, id even pick luis cane. id put him at five hundred if he decided to go heavyweight. your a legend for sure chuck! please ko RUA!!
It is so about how much he makes and weather or not he can draw the money like he used to. How many times are people supposed to shell out 49.95 to see him get knocked the hell out. If he refuses the pay cut and is regulated to mid-card, thanks for showing up here’s your 4 grand status. He should retire and announce, it’s over.
It’s a good thing that there be some pressure on Liddell, that way he’ll be more motivated to train harder and work on his weaknesses more. In oreder for him to impress everyone he needs to put Shogun away and put him away fast. Despite what people say, i don’t think that the UFC is going to let go of the biggest name that they have, even if Chuck isn’t the same fighter anymore.
I would contest the fact that Chuck is still the biggest name they have. 2.5-3 years ago he was, without question, but Rampage, Forrest, GSP, A. Silva, and Lesnar all have pretty big names at this point. He may still be the most recognized outside of the realm of MMA, but there are a few people that give him a run for his money in that category now.
You know, your problably right JUSTIN, the reason why I said “biggest name” is because i feel that he is still the most recognizable MMA fighter from the UFC, but maybe i’m wrong. I just don’t think that the UFC would just let him go.
What’s with the emphasis on my name?
I think outside of MMA Lesnar might be more recognizable from his WWE influence, but he’s not going to be recognized as an MMA fighter, rather as a wrassler.
I’d love to see Chuck put on a good show again but I have a feeling his best days are behind him. It’s a question now of how he wants people to remember him, as one of the best, most exciting fighters ever, or if he wants to go down the Ken Shamroid path.
(That issue was sorted out, no need to revive it. -Justin)
Even though Chuck got ko’d twice i still like him and i still want to see him fight because unlike a lot, and i mean a lot of other fighters, at least Chuck lost getting ko’d and trying to win they fight instead of losing by deccision. At least he gets put away insted of being scared of getting put away and just being cautious the whole fight. There are many fighters that lose like cowards who don’t want to fight. Theres a difference between guys who get beat and guys who just lose by not doing anything. With that said, i think Chuck has one last run in him, assuming he works on keeping his hands up when he throws his big punches.
What do you call the Jardine fight then. I mean he lost to Keith Jardine for Pete’s sake. That was the most boring fight I’ve ever paid for. That is 15 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Liddell is one dimentional and that just don’t cut it anymore.
Well said Marvel.
I don’t think chuck is the biggest name anymore but like you guys said he has a huge draw and of course Affliction would be all over him if the ufc cut him, but because of his loyalty to Dana White, i really don’t see him signing with anyone. I think the announcer idea is a good one if it comes down to it. All i know is that Shogun is a young talented fighter eager to prove himself and continue his career and lidell is just as eager to finish his career on top so we’re in for an exciting fight.
I think dana’s trying to give chuck some motavation, is all. There is no way they would let the poster boy of the ufc go, not after all he’s done. Aint no way. Plus I believe chuck and dana are super close and at the end of the day dana and company don’t want to see or be the cause of liddell getting hurt or watch him ruin his career.
This is Dana stating the obvious and not ignoring the 800lbs pink gorilla in the room… We all know that Chuck needs to impress (which imo has zero to do if he wins or loses).. I think both Rua and Liddell both need to be impressive or someone is going to have to make a huge decision…
If Rua gasses again and gets ko’d (which is likely) then all of his accomplisments are going for not and the whole steriod thing has a stance on him (maybe) or that the whole UFC is was better than PRIDE comes back into play…
Liddell is in a crossroads in his fighting career he cannot aford to be lackluster in this bout, can he still draw ofcourse, is he still a legand yes, but he still fights top talent in the LHW division but he needs to impress forsure..
I don’t believe that Chuck will be cut or whatever, perhaps he will go and get an office job with ZUFFA but by no means do I see him fighting the likes of Andy Reese, and I don’t think Dana would put him up against a up and comer like Jones.. Dana doesn’t want to put Chuck in a position of tarnishing his legacy….
JUSTIN~ just cuz
*Reese Andy
Damn Mondays owell
FR
800lb pink gorilla!!!
I’m at work and I’m on the floor laughing at you. Man that was priceless!!
In your oppinion do you really feel that the steriods had alot to do with the pride fighters and their dominance at the time or was it just thier time at that time. Or is it more to do with Now the cage and rule change and that lay off for most of the guys and old injurys and tons of ring rust??..
Just a question.
True1, PRIDE v UFC and the perspective dominace of the individual fighters has alot to do with a few different things…. Mainly the rules imo and the cage v ring thing… In PRIDE you had the yellow cards, knees to the head of a grounded opponent, soccer kicks, 10 minute first rounds, I could go on and on.. The precieved use of steroids might have something to do with why Rua hasn’t done sooo well in the UFC or it might just be that he is not having success for some other reason, I don’t know..
Mind you this was at one time one of the hands down best LHW in the world it was Liddell, Wanderlei, and Shogun.. That’s all you ever heard were those three, now (at one time #1 LHW in the world) could barely get past a aging Mark Coleman (who dropped to LHW for the first time ever) and had a hard time beating him…. Something has happend to Rua, I’m not sure what it is but there will be debate about this fall from grace for some time to come..
Liddell, we know what his problem is, with Rua can you really put a finger on it? And no the knee surgery and the year off isn’t valid enough to explain gassing in 4mins of rd 1.
Look I by no means am saying that PRIDE vets can’t cut it in the UFC (Hendo, Rampage,Big Nog, Anderson Silva, Wanderlei {epic battle with Liddell and the ko of Jardine}etc) but Rua hasn’t done what I believe we as MMA fans were awaiting for him to do, and that is take over the LHW division, remember how EPIC it was that Griffin choked him out, now who would you pick in that fight? The man simply has fallen from grace and there has to be a reason why, perhaps one of the biggest disappointments in MMA in a long time, perhaps even more so then Cro Cop..
I got’ca.
I’ve had many a discussion about ufc vs pride
But really it seems like the very ones like cro-cop and shogun and henderson {1-3} who we thought would just dominate fizzled out hard. I really woulda beat the farm on cro-cop, man was I wrong. But i believe the case for shogun is still out. He’s only what 28 or 29 years old so he still has time to get it together.
But like you said something wrong with him, or his training.
But it did seem the pride guys fought a ton better in pride and were alot stronger ala {rampage slaming everone, in everymatch-dan henderson’s right hand, cro-cops kicks-wandy actually living up to the nickname ax murderer and so on.
good talking to you folk.
JUSTIN, i just wanted you to know that i was replying your comment, i don’t mean anything by it so don’t take it that way, i usually do that when i reply someone, so nothing personal
Ok, I thought that was the case, I was just curious. The fact that it was nested kind of gave that away, but there is also the option of beginning the email:
“Justin,
Blah blah”
or
“@Justin
blah blah”
No worries, and I’ll know what you mean by it the next time.
Come on dude. Try decaf.
Just kidding.
not email, comment, my bad.
Dude i think shogun is going to make it very hard for lidell to “impress”. I’m sure his camp noticed the criticism about how he gassed against coleman and i bet they too know shogun is on thin ice so they probably are working hard for what they should know is an amazing opportunity for shogun to not only showcase the talent UFC fans havent seen, but to climb to the top again and show people why he was once ranked #1. Chuck better come storming, in shape and balls out dude.
Yeah i agree, Shogun might just be the one who retires Chuck, if Shogun comes in better shape than the Coleman fight, it’s gonna be hard for Chuck to put him away.
I would very much disagree with that statement. Coleman almost put him down. And Coleman shouldn’t even have been in the Octagon. You get a pissed-off Chuck Liddell in a cage, a dedicated Chil Liddell (even going so far Asti train at ATT), Rua’s the one who is in trouble.
That’s a good point. I think they both have a chance @ winning. They are just in similar situation where they both need an imressive w. Let’ s hope they both come ready so we can see some good action.
I think they both have the same chance to knock eachother out. I can’t remeber the last time i saw Chuck really gas out, but he got ko’d by Rampage and got completely put to sleep by Evans, so his chin might be somewhat suspect at this point, because as we have seen before, the more a fighter gets ko’d the easier it becomes for that fighter to get ko’d. If Shogun comes out of shape i think Liddell has nothing to worry about, if Shougun can find his chin, then i think Liddell could go down. This fight can go either way depending on a lot of things.
i wonder if multiple kos make some more likely to be knocked out because it changes how they fight so they are more hesitant to throw the big punches than they were before
More than just another impressive KO on somebody, I would much rather see Chuck evolve as a fighter. I am not a Chuck Liddell fan and I do not think he is main-event caliber anymore because his bread and butter, the almighty KO, has been MIA for quite some time now. I would much rather see him try and evolve as a fighter. Heck, I might even root for him if he showed an attempt to evolve. I don’t know if it’s too late or not for him but he is a one-trick pony and we haven’t even seen that one trick in a long time. C’mon Chuck, it’s time to keep up with the Jones’s.
I’m fairly confident Chuck will pull this one out, he fights better under this kind of pressure, and I think Shogun is the type of fighter that he won’t need to chase and leave himself vulnerable too. We can all speculate, but April 18 will tell it all.
I think dana was just trying to motivate chuck and rua. both guys have for whatever reason been lackluster in their last few fights. maybe it has to do with the talent they were facing who knows. I know one thing for sure chuck cant hang at 205 anymore. the guys are too damn good… rampage, forrest, machida, evans. chuck has been ko’d by two of them and will lose to the other two. maybe chuck should drop to 185. his power will be better than most of the guys at 185 and there are good fighters at 185(marquardt, hendo, bisping, cote, maia, silva, almedia, leites.) I would personally like to see chuck at 185. he has a better chance at winning at that weight then he does at 205. unless he wants to announce, he should drop to 185. chuck and joe would do a sweet job at commentating.
I don’t think he could make 185, he walks around at 225-230 and usually enters the cage around 220. I know he’s got a gut, but the guy has a clean diet and that gut isn’t really flabby.
i dot think they would cut him because he is such an popular fight, but maybe a pay cut. hope he wins.
Lets not forget he got knocked out by the current champ and the real #1 contender, so its not like he got owned by lower level fighters, he still has gas in the tank, and he will be fighting for the UFC for years to come
unless he retires. he’s closing in on 40. but ya agreed only got koed by top guys. but when ufc started cutting fighters they want people the fans want ant champs and people with the poteintal to become champ. i dont think chuck will be champ again but he sure does have tons of fans
Well listen: if Dana White is telling THE MEDIA that he’s been VERY CLEAR that Chuck needs to be exciting, then you can only imagine what he’s telling Chuck in private. I am probably the 2nd or 3rd biggest Liddell fan out there, but I hope be does retire in 2009. I’d like to see him retire after he possibly knocks out one more big name.
well… in my opinion, chuck doesn’t need to be cut from the ufc if he loses this fight. he should be matched up against brandon vera when the ufc comes to the philippines. that’s gonna be an awesome fight.
To me it seems like this is the defining moment for him. If he wins in KO or TKO in round 1, then Dana will be “impressed” enough to keep him fighting. If it goes even to UD for Liddell, I think Dana’s not going to let him fight anymore. The good news is Chuck will always have a job in the UFC, as Dana has said it on multiple occasions.
i have no idea what to expect.
shogun gassed but if his knees have been good … he could be the best shogun ever – if not he could be on the way out. at the beginning of the forrest fight his skills looked amazing still but he gassed p- not to take away from forestts great performance – but i’d say shogun lost – not that he was beaten that night.
chuck’s weakness was sloppy boxing but he still looked super deadly to me. while rashad practically snapped his head off liddell was the predator for a lot of it.
kness question vs. 39 year old good night/bad night question.
NO PREDICTION