After Rich Franklin wrapped up Chuck Liddell’s night with a nicely timed right hand at UFC 115, handing “The Iceman” his third straight KO loss, Dana White was quick to announce that the legendary fighter would never fight in the Octagon again. Of course, since then, you’ve probably noticed a bazillion online articles pointing out the fact that the UFC boss man said the same thing last year, after Chuck was bombed out by “Shogun” Rua.
What has also been rather deja-vu-ish is that, just like after Chuck’s loss last year, the former champ hasn’t actually, you know, agreed to retire. In fact, in some of his most recent interviews the 40 year-old Liddell has sounded much more like a guy that is hoping to fight again, rather than hang em-up. Well, after the UFC 116 presser today, White fielded several questions about Liddell and his future in the organization (thanks to MMA Weekly for the quote).
“Can Chuck Liddell still make money? Could I make money off Chuck Liddell? Yes,” White said, before declaring, “I don’t want that money. I don’t want to make that kind of money. I’m not interested in that”…“He’ll never fight in the UFC again.”
In addition, when asked if he would release Liddell provided ”The Iceman” insisted so that he could fight again elsewhere, White conceded he would. Now that’s some pretty definitive sounding stuff no?
