UFC 115 Injury Report: Franklin’s Arm, Liddell’s Face, Barry’s Hand/Foot, Cro Cop’s Ham

(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com’s UFC 115 Fight Night Photos gallery.)
Chuck Liddell may have lost his ability to take a punch, but he still had enough offensive firepower at UFC 115 to break Rich Franklin’s arm with the first body kick he threw. …

Chuck Liddell Rich Franklin UFC 115 broken arm
(Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com’s UFC 115 Fight Night Photos gallery.)

Chuck Liddell may have lost his ability to take a punch, but he still had enough offensive firepower at UFC 115 to break Rich Franklin’s arm with the first body kick he threw. Following their meeting on Saturday night, Ace confirmed that he broke his left ulna during the fight, and would be in a cast for at least eight weeks. As the former UFC middleweight champ told reporters at the post-fight press conference:

"I definitely wasn’t going to quit — I’ve broken bones before and continued fighting — but there was part of me that was wondering what kind of strategy I was going to use to win the fight with a broken left arm in the second and third rounds." 

…proving once again that knocking your opponent out early is always the best gameplan. (Are you listening, Pat?) Liddell woke up from his knockout with a horribly split lip and a gash over his left eye, but that didn’t stop him from making an appearance at his afterparty. A photographic timeline of Chuck’s night continues after the jump.

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Rich Franklin Puts Chuck Liddell on Ice; Underdogs Have Their Day at UFC 115

Filed under: UFC, NewsNo matter the sport, the great ones always seem to hold on a bit too long. Emmitt Smith closed out his football career as a struggling tailback for the Arizona Cardinals, Babe Ruth hit .181 in his last year for the Boston Braves a…

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Rich Franklin knocks out Chuck Liddell at UFC 115.No matter the sport, the great ones always seem to hold on a bit too long. Emmitt Smith closed out his football career as a struggling tailback for the Arizona Cardinals, Babe Ruth hit .181 in his last year for the Boston Braves and Michael Jordan clanged jumpers off the iron for the lowly Washington Wizards.

The last memory of Chuck Liddell in the Octagon is also likely to be a sight that most fans would rather not remember. After a spirited round in which he showed more variety to his offense than he’s shown in years, it all came crashing down around the legend. Despite his newfound diet and his hard work, the lasting image of Liddell from UFC 115 was like the few that had come in the fights directly before it: Liddell falling backwards, his head bouncing backwards to the mat as he fell unconscious. This time the punch came from Rich Franklin, putting a close on the event, and likely Liddell’s career.

Asked if it was the end for the UFC Hall of Famer, UFC President Dana White answered directly.

Rich Franklin Uncomfortable With Thought of Ending Chuck Liddell’s Career

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, VideosVANCOUVER, British Columbia — Following his UFC 115 victory over Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin met with the press to discuss the first round knockout.

Franklin, whose broken left arm was in a sling, looked back on h…

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Rich FranklinVANCOUVER, British Columbia — Following his UFC 115 victory over Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin met with the press to discuss the first round knockout.

Franklin, whose broken left arm was in a sling, looked back on how he defeated Liddell and discusses the possibility of being Liddell’s final opponent.

Check out the video below.

Chuck Liddell Falls in a Finish Worthy of a Champion

Filed under: UFCThere’s a funny thing that happens when you see a legend like Chuck Liddell knocked out cold.

One minute, he’s larger than life, a hero to millions, marching down to the cage like a lion headed for his evening meal. A few minutes late…

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There’s a funny thing that happens when you see a legend like Chuck Liddell knocked out cold.

One minute, he’s larger than life, a hero to millions, marching down to the cage like a lion headed for his evening meal. A few minutes later, he goes shuffling back to the locker room with his trainer holding a bloody cloth to his face, and it’s like he’s somehow shrunk to half his previous size. He almost disappears into the crowd, just another guy trying to get out of the arena and beat the traffic.

The punch from Rich Franklin that ended Liddell’s night – and most likely his career – at UFC 115 on Saturday night wasn’t exactly a fierce one. It was nowhere near as bad as the blistering right hand from Rashad Evans that began Liddell’s three-fight losing streak at UFC 88, but it was enough.

Dana White Says Chuck Liddell’s UFC Career is Over

Remember rolling your eyes as a kid when you were told that history was important to learn, because it ‘has a funny way of repeating itself’ (which is kind of an odd way of putting it, as often historical repetition involves war, atrocities, political scandal…you know, all that ‘funny’ stuff). Well if you watched UFC […]

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Remember rolling your eyes as a kid when you were told that history was important to learn, because it ‘has a funny way of repeating itself’ (which is kind of an odd way of putting it, as often historical repetition involves war, atrocities, political scandal…you know, all that ‘funny’ stuff). Well if you watched UFC 115 last night, then you know that Chuck Liddell made out the same way as he did last April, KO’d.

Now you may also recall that after getting knocked out by “Shogun” Rua last year, UFC Pres Dana White wasted little time declaring that Liddell should retire. Chuck didn’t announce his retirement, however, did “Dancing with the Stars”, and yadda, yadda, yadda, showed up in tremendous shape for last night’s bout with Franklin. Unfortunately for Liddell of course, once again, he got laid the hell out…

So, naturally,  White is once again calling for Liddell’s retirement. In the post-fight press conference last night, the UFC boss man offered this, when asked if Liddell should hang em up (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote).

“Yeah, and I hope he agreed tonight,” the UFC president said. “I don’t think he won’t.”

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Now due to similar things that were said last April, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani pressed White on whether or not this time around, Liddell’s UFC career really is over; White responded with  “I guarantee you tonight was the last night.”  Well, if that is in fact the case (and really, this time it should be no?) it’s been a hell of a ride for “The Iceman.”

UFC 115 Aftermath: Everybody in the World Wants Chuck to Retire; Will he Listen?

(VidProps: MMA Fighting)
Regardless of how you think of Chuck Liddell on a personal level, it was hard not to feel bad for the guy last night. Liddell seemed just seconds away from heading back to his corner up 1-0 during his UFC 115 main event fight …

(VidProps: MMA Fighting)

Regardless of how you think of Chuck Liddell on a personal level, it was hard not to feel bad for the guy last night. Liddell seemed just seconds away from heading back to his corner up 1-0 during his UFC 115 main event fight against Rich Franklin, after showing off a surprisingly diverse striking attack and even a takedown during the opening stanza. Then Franklin clipped him with a short right square on the jaw and as soon as Liddell’s rigid body hit the canvas, you could almost hear the entire MMA world sigh and say: Well, that’s the end of that.

And it was. Hopefully for good this time. In the above video with Ariel Helwani, UFC President Dana White guaran-damn-tees that we’ve really, absolutely seen the end of “The Iceman” in the Octagon. Liddell was taken to the hospital immediately following the fight, so he and White had not yet spoken at the time of filming, but there’s no arguing with the decision. At this point in his career – after three consecutive ugly KO losses – it’s starting to look like a solid gust of wind has to potential to knock Liddell stiff. It’s time to pull the plug on this thing while he still has most of his faculties.

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