Chuck Liddell: The End Has Come

The end has come and it's pretty much confirmed here and here.  I'll be candid and admit that I really thought Chuck Liddell was going to put the stamp on Shogun Rua at UFC 97.  He had the edge in power, Shogun hasn't looked good in a long time, and stylistically the fight favored Liddell.  However, I was rooting for Shogun and I had my reasons for that if you listened to the Lights Out Radio show earlier this week.  Chuck Liddell will go down in history as one of the all time greats in the short history of MMA.  The most impressive thing about Liddell wasn't his overall record, or how many KO's he had in his career.  I know he fought nothing but wrestlers and grapplers during that time period.  However, the most amazing thing about the guy is that during the height of career, you knew what he was going to do and you still couldn't do anything to stop him.  You knew he was going to stuff your takedowns, and if you stood to trade punches with him you were going to sleep.  It was on some Larry Bird shit telling the defender exactly what he was about to do, only to do it leaving the defender there in disbelief. 

I had the honor of watching Chuck Liddell fight in person against Rashad Evans at UFC 88.  His entrance was electrifying as he had over 12,000 people in the palm of his hand.  It's also another impressive thing about the guy.  The fact that he wasn't the most flamboyant personality, or the best shit talker when building a fight against his opponent.  The guy just did all his talking in the octagon, and that's proabably what I'll remember most about the 'Iceman'.  Thanks for the memories Chuck.