Once the most dominant light heavyweight fighter on the planet, Chuck Liddell painfully exited the sport after suffering three consecutive losses, all coming by way of knockout.
In his last outing, Liddell took on former middleweight kingpin Rich Franklin. The two heavy hitters engaged in the main event of UFC 115 in June of 2010, where “The Iceman” appeared to be edging Franklin early with powerful kicks and punches.
The mounting blows sent Franklin reeling backwards against the cage and just as the fight seemed to be nearing a decisive end in favor of Liddell, “Ace” connected with a short right hook which earned him “Knockout of the Night” for his performance.
Originally, Liddell was set to face off against rival Tito Ortiz, serving as the conclusion for their Season 11 stint as coaches for The Ultimate Fighter, though the bout never came to fruition as Ortiz suffered an injury in the lead-up to it.
After the loss to Franklin, Liddell exited professional competition and later took up a cushy position as a leading executive for the UFC.
However, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” has since been clamoring for his rubber match with Liddell, looking to close the final fight of his career whilst avenging two previous career defeats with a potential win over the UFC Hall of Famer.
President Dana White has been adamant about Liddell retiring for years and now that the Californian has committed himself to hanging up the gloves for well over a year now, it would seem unlikely and unsafe for the already legendary fighter to reenter the sport at 42 years old, which is not old by any means, except when you’re a combatant who’s clocked in nearly 30 fights over a 12-year career in a brutal sport.
Ortiz will have to live in the now and realize that a final battle with Liddell is implausible, unlikely and unwarranted for either man to endure.
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