The Politics and Financials of Liddell
Sorry folks, but I gotta rant a little bit after the Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin fight from UFC 115 over the weekend.
Kudos to Rich for winning that fight. He really is a warrior. He has talent, a chin, huge pain tolernce (as he has showed us time and time again), and definitely deserved it.
But let’s take a look at Chuck. Okay, so honestly, I expected Chuck to come out, and just be the same old Chuck, with the same old game, and hope it would work again. But he wasn’t. He was fit. He was fast. He was nailing takedowns, kicks, you name it. It was the best Chuck Liddell I think we have ever seen. Okay, maybe not in all respects… His fight game was top notch. But there is no question that Chuck Liddell’s chin has become weaker with age. I hate to seem him get knocked cold. But let’s not let that completely overshadow the amazing game he came to the cage with!
The moment Chuck went down they started writing him off as retired. Then, they took it further… stating that it was time to go. He was too old. It was really time to hang it up, as they didn’t want to see him do this to himself.
If this was all just heart-felt caring for a great man, I’d chime in as well, with a tear in my eye.
But it’s bullshit. It’s politics, and it’s financial.
Chuck had a one fight deal. That means he has no deal in contract with the UFC right now. But he looked awesome! So, why wouldn’t Strikeforce have Chuck come over for a fight? I truly believe that it is the fear of Chuck going over to fight on another card that spawned all of the crap we heard Saturday night. UFC needed to make it look like they were done with Chuck, and that they felt he was washed up. That way if he fights somewhere else, they can say, “We were done with him anyway… and he really shouldn’t be fighting.”
It just really was crap. Chuck was awesome.
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