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View Full Version : Liddell's last ride? 'Shogun' wins via first-round TKO at UFC 97



dbreiden83080
04-19-2009, 05:05 PM
http://www.cbssports.com/mma/story/11646427

April 19, 2009


By Denny Burkholder
CBSSports.com


http://images.cbssports.com/u/photos/boxing/img11646425.jpg

"Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua would have been a dramatic, exciting fight to witness in 2007, since both fighters were considered among the very best in the world at that time. When it happened at UFC 97 in Montreal on Saturday, it was still exciting and dramatic, but in a more depressing way.

The 39-year-old Liddell and the 27-year-old Rua were both put on notice -- by fans and the UFC alike -- that a very impressive performance was needed by each man to justify their status with the promotion.


Liddell loses again. Is he finished? (AP)
When Rua knocked Liddell to the canvas and pummeled him for a referee stoppage at 4:28 of the first round, the verdict appeared to be in: the once-feared Liddell just doesn't have it anymore. Whether he fights again or not, it has become apparent that Liddell isn't aging as gracefully as his rival Randy Couture has, and something -- be it his chin, his training, Father Time, or all three -- has betrayed him.

Rua (18-3-0, 2-1-0 UFC) tenderized Liddell's legs with brutal kicks from the very beginning, in a page out of the Keith Jardine playbook. Both men looked far more motivated due to what was at stake, with Liddell (21-7-0, 16-6-0 UFC) stalking forward more than usual and mixing up his strikes.

Rua attempted to take Liddell down, and when Liddell resisted, Rua dropped to the mat and went for a leglock. Liddell was able to spin out of it and struggle back to his feet, eventually shaking loose from Rua's waistlock. Liddell then took Rua down with relative ease. Not interested in continuing the fight from Rua's guard, Liddell stood back up and invited Rua to do the same.

Not long after that, Rua smashed Liddell with a left hand that put the longtime UFC star flat on the canvas. Several unanswered hammerfists later, and referee Mario Yamasaki called off the fight in favor of Rua.

Liddell stood up, asking Yamasaki "What happened?" while a trickle of blood streamed down his forehead.

A dejected Liddell told UFC interviewer Joe Rogan that things just didn't feel the same this time around. While he felt prepared entering the Octagon, something was amiss during the fight.

"I'm disappointed, you know," he said. "I had a great camp. I was in great shape, and things just weren't firing quite right."

Having lost four of his last five fights -- including two in a row via knockout -- the legendary "Iceman" must now make a very difficult decision. Either continue fighting undercard opponents with the knowledge that his best days are now a rapidly shrinking speck in his rear-view mirror, or retire.

UFC president Dana White said repeatedly in recent weeks that if Liddell didn't dazzle him with an impressive performance against Rua, he would not want to see his friend and historic top-drawing main eventer step into the cage again. Until Saturday night, Liddell himself never seemed sold on the idea that he really might be at the end of the road. After his loss to Rua, his tone was decidedly different.

"I gotta go home and talk to everybody, but I don't know," Liddell said. "It just didn't feel right tonight, so I don't know."

Liddell fought in the main event of many of the UFC's most watched shows of all-time, against such rivals as Couture, Tito Ortiz and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. He is one of a handful of fighters under the UFC banner to achieve a measure of crossover celebrity status, and was easily the most recognizable fighter on the UFC roster when the UFC's popularity surged in 2006.

Even with his recent string of losses, Liddell remains the winningest fighter in UFC history with 16 wins in the promotion. Liddell also holds the record for most UFC wins via knockout (10) and is tied with Karo Parisyan for most UFC wins via decision (6).

Rua has beaten two UFC legends in consecutive fights since losing his UFC debut to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76 in September 2007. In his prior fight, Rua beat Hall of Famer Mark "The Hammer" Coleman via TKO at UFC 93 in January.

In the night's main event, UFC middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva retained his title with a five-round unanimous decision win over Thales Leites. The bout was underwhelming, and the vocal crowd in Montreal let both fighters know it, even erupting into chants for hometown hero Georges St. Pierre in the middle of the fight.

There was very little action in the first round. Leites simply didn't look ready to engage Silva, and Silva spent the early going waiting for a chance to counterstrike. As a smattering of boos grew louder from the audience, Silva (24-4-0, 9-0-0 UFC) threw a few punches and attempted a front kick. Leites landed an inside leg kick and tried to take Silva down, but was quickly shucked off.

Silva swept Leites' leg, causing Leites to fall to his back, but Silva would not follow him to the canvas. Leites shot in for a takedown with less than a minute left in the round and could not complete it, holding Silva against the cage while the champion shrugged in recognition of the stalemate.

Leites (14-2-0, 5-2-0 UFC) took Silva down in Round 2, but was unable to capitalize as Silva controlled his arms from the bottom and eventually escaped. Like a rooftop sniper waiting for his target to wander into range, Silva spent the remainder of the round seeing what the still-tentative Leites would give him, which wasn't much.

Silva's frustration grew as the crowd got less patient with Leites' repeated flopping to his back in an attempt to bait Silva into a ground battle. Silva punished Leites' legs at first with vicious kicks, but then simply turned his back and walked away each time Leites hit the mat. Silva pressed forward at the end of the round and connected with uppercuts and body shots, with Leites continually trying to pull guard to make Silva back off.

And so the fight went for all five rounds, with the audience increasingly hostile and the champion putting his hands on his hips in the middle of the fight or simply turning his back to walk away from Leites when he hit the mat.

The judges awarded Silva the win by scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 50-46.

"It's unfortunate sometimes things don't work out the way the public likes it to, but sometimes when you're not in here it's hard to tell what's going on," Silva said through his manager and interpreter Ed Soares. "But sorry, next time I'll give a better performance."

The fight marked Silva's 10th consecutive win. He remains undefeated in the UFC while Leites suffered his first loss since his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann on Nov. 11, 2006.

Heavyweight Cheick Kongo (14-4-1, 7-2-0 UFC) scored his third consecutive win with a second-round TKO of Antoni Hardonk (8-5-0, 4-3-0 UFC).

The fighters exchanged leg and body kicks in Round 1, with Hardonk initially pressing forward. Kongo got the better of the exchanges though, and in Round 2, he took Hardonk to the mat and began a ground and pound attack. Kongo softened up Hardonk with punches to the head and body, elbows to the face, and hammerfists. Midway through the round, Hardonk turtled up, and Kongo rained a few more fists down upon him before the referee waved off the bout at 2:29.

The loss was Hardonk's first since 2007.

Luiz Arthur "Banha" Cane won his third straight UFC bout with a unanimous decision win over former WEC light heavyweight champion Steve Cantwell (7-2-0, 1-1-0 UFC).

Cane (10-1-1, 3-1-0 UFC) primarily stuck to boxing in the first round and was successful in getting the better of Cantwell standing. He bloodied Cantwell's nose and blocked the majority of Cantwell's striking attempts, and at one point stuffed a takedown.

Cantwell retaliated in Round 2 with a more aggressive attack, landing a nice right hand and a pair of head kicks that appeared to momentarily stun Cane. Undaunted, Cane fired back in the final round with a barrage of powerful uppercuts, knees and combinations. The judges unanimously gave the win to Cane by scores of 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27." [/B]

Evan
04-19-2009, 06:55 PM
Its time for him to go...Chuck did so much for MMA and anyone who talks sh*t about him nowadays can suck a bag of dicks.

dbreiden83080
04-19-2009, 08:40 PM
Being a Tito fan i was never much of a fan of his but i always respected the hell out of him. One of the first big superstars in MMA ever and really paved the way for a lot of guys..

Evan
04-19-2009, 08:54 PM
but i always respected the hell out of him.

yup yup

I definitely wanted him to lose and move on but nobody can doubt his greatness.

dbreiden83080
04-19-2009, 09:02 PM
Where does Chuck rank all time at 205?? Maybe we should start a poll on this. How many guys would be on the list

Chuck
Wandy
Page
Shogun
Randy

Trying to think of guys with long careers, who else should be on the list??

Evan
04-19-2009, 09:11 PM
Tito needs to be on there. He dominated for a very long time and I am sure Rashad will be there when its all said & done...

Evan
04-19-2009, 09:12 PM
Chuck is done and will make a fortune from the UFC post career doing appearances I think.

d9aZugTVwyw

^^^ watch this

dbreiden83080
04-19-2009, 09:12 PM
Tito needs to be on there. He dominated for a very long time and I am sure Rashad will be there when its all said & done...

LOL, i was gonna put Tito on there but i figured you'd disagree..

dbreiden83080
04-19-2009, 09:14 PM
Chuck is done and will make a fortune from the UFC post career doing appearances I think.

d9aZugTVwyw

^^^ watch this

I saw it earlier, i love how Dana is acting like the UFC can tell Chuck he is not fighting ever again. You can't deny a man a right to work there Dana. Chuck can fight elsewhere if he wants too. But yes he will make a ton just doing appearances, he does not have the skills for any on TV stuff IMO..

Evan
04-19-2009, 09:19 PM
LOL, i was gonna put Tito on there but i figured you'd disagree..

Naw I respect his past but I just question his current relevance.


I i love how Dana is acting like the UFC can tell Chuck he is not fighting ever again. You can't deny a man a right to work there Dana. Chuck can fight elsewhere if he wants too.

I think Dana is just being emotional...I would not be surprised if he fought in the UFC in a year...

Evan
04-19-2009, 09:20 PM
Chuck, Cro Cop and Hughes are big time first generation MMA guys that are all once upon a time badasses but lost their flow in modern MMA.

Rip-Hamilton32
04-20-2009, 06:15 AM
my favorite fighter of all time but i hope hes done because hes got nothing left best 205er ever IMO

Evan
04-20-2009, 07:03 AM
my favorite fighter of all time but i hope hes done because hes got nothing left best 205er ever IMO

yeah and again I really hate seeing guys his age get ko'd so much...

BlackSwordsMan
04-20-2009, 07:10 AM
I hope chuck doesn't become an mma commentator

desflood
04-20-2009, 09:29 AM
I love how Dana is acting like the UFC can tell Chuck he is not fighting ever again.
Yes.

He says it like I say it when my kids misbehave and can't go to the neighbor kid's birthday party.

Evan
04-20-2009, 12:16 PM
I guarantee Chuck is going to get a gigantic retirement check, however...I also guarantee Affliction or another competitor will 'saber rattle' wanting to sign Chuck just to make the UFC/Dana look bad.

polandprzem
04-20-2009, 12:18 PM
I guarantee Chuck is going to get a gigantic retirement check, however...I also guarantee Affliction or another competitor will 'saber rattle' wanting to sign Chuck just to make the UFC/Dana look bad.

Maybe he has some point in the contract that he can't fight in other organization year after he retires from UFC. .. ..

Evan
04-20-2009, 12:28 PM
We're also speculating he even wants to fight again....

And thats only because once again Dana opens his mouth and causes problems.

dbreiden83080
04-20-2009, 12:53 PM
It's a shame Chuck does not have the personailty to go right to TV, color commentator. That would be the most exciting spot in the UFC i would want when i am done.. Randy was great at that, speaking of which, i miss him it sucks he never went back to it..

Evan
04-20-2009, 03:44 PM
It's a shame Chuck does not have the personailty to go right to TV, color commentator.

Yeah he's simply terrible on camera.



Randy was great at that, speaking of which, i miss him it sucks he never went back to it..

He is great when he projects his voice.

dbreiden83080
04-20-2009, 05:37 PM
He is great when he projects his voice.

Weren't you asking way back when he came back about his personal services contract with the UFC? You ever find out any answers on that? My guess is things are okay with him and the UFC but they'll never be great again..

Evan
04-20-2009, 06:21 PM
he never did dammit