Chuck Liddell announces retirement

[Buffalo Dave]

LAS VEGAS – Chuck Liddell officially is retired from the UFC cage, but "The Iceman's" career isn't over.

The UFC Hall of Famer and former champion has turned in his fight gloves for a spot in the UFC's front office.

The 41-year-old MMA legend and business-school graduate today was named the UFC's executive vice president of business development.

"He's now on level and on par with all the top executives," UFC president Dana White said at today's pre-UFC 125 press conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

An emotional Liddell briefly addressed the media and fans. He thanked the UFC for a memorable career and said he looks forward to promoting a sport he helped put on the map.

"I love this sport, and I'm ready for a new chapter in my career," he said.

His new gig isn't a ceremonial one. Liddell, a former wrestler at Cal Poly who earned his bachelor's degree in business management and accounting, will be involved in the daily business development of the organization and will help lead the UFC's international expansion. In recent years, he also helped the UFC campaign for regulation in new states, and he's served as an MMA ambassador in various platforms.

"He's seen this sport evolve from a very niche sport to ... a worldwide sport," UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta said. "He's going to be very involved."

In recent years, White has struggled whether to announce Liddell's retirement while "The Iceman" appeared on the fence. The fighter wanted to continue to compete, but White felt he might need to protect Liddell after he went 1-5 in his past six fights with four knockouts. But White never wavered in his unabashed praise for the superstar.

"We all owe a lot to Chuck Liddell," he said.

Liddell retires with a 21-8 record, including a 16-7 mark in the UFC. His 16 wins in the organization were a previous UFC record, and the peak of his popularity coincided with the UFC's move into the mainstream.

Liddell, who turned pro in 1998, made his MMA and UFC debut at UFC 17. He won the UFC's light-heavyweight title in 2005 and made four consecutive title defenses before losing the belt to Quinton Jackson in 2007.

Sucks to see his career come to an end the way it did. Liddell will always be one of the most recognized names ever in the sport of MMA. I was hoping we would get to see that third fight with Ortiz before Liddell officially retired. At least in his last fight with Franklin, we got to see some flashes of his former self before those last 10 seconds. It is no surprise that the UFC is giving him a job in the front office, he still is a very marketable name and will help tons with promoting and with appearances.

 

[Final Form Snyper.]

I'm in a weird place because after every loss KO he had after Rampage I'd say "Chuck needs to retire, he is doing more harm than good" but now that it has happened I will miss seeing The Iceman in the cage. But he went out the same way he came in, like a Warrior.

I'm going to add a tribute to this thread for this man because without him the UFC or MMA wouldn't have been on the same level that it is now. Chuck was simply a fighter who didn't need the Light Heavyweight Championship to be a champion.

 

[Window Licker 101]

It is a sad day in the MMA world but it was the right decision by Mr Liddell. Sure everyone would wanna see Tito get the shit beaten out of him again but Chuck needs to look after his healthy. 3 back to back KOs is not good at all for any human being especially the nature of them. Liddell went out like he was best remembered, fighting. I'm glad the UFC have gave him a job as I just couldn't imagine him any other place.

 

[Final Form Snyper.]

I agree even with the way he went out on the back of 3 straight KO losses, to me that didn't diminish the aura of the Iceman. He was a man who didn't care about fighting for money (I mean look at him now he is loaded and yet was still hungry for the chase towards the Championship).

The fight that defined him as a legitimate fighter was his loss to Jeremy Horn,

The fight that showed he was a top contender was his Knockout of Kevin Randleman

The Fight that showed he was worthy of being a champion was his second fight with Randy Couture.

There was no fight that showed me he was a Hall Of Famer but more of his fighting style and personality in or outside of the cage. He fought the same way all through his career and showed that the Sprawl and Brawl style he possessed was a style that could make you Light Heavyweight Champion.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

An announcement that we all were expecting soon enough it was inevitable, quite sad actually. Theres goes a legend and an icon to the world of MMA. No matter hohw he fought those last five or so fights he will always be remembered for his classic fights against Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz etc. Chuck is still with the UFC, which is good and it is a great decision by the UFC to keep him around as he is a huge name in the world of MMA. Farewell Chuck.

 

[Final Form Snyper.]

Another great memory I have of Chuck Liddell as a fighter was his willingness to fight regardless of opponent, venue or promotion and he showed this when he accepted an invite to come into the Pride FC promotion and fight against the likes of Guy Mezger, Alistair Overeem and Quinton Jackson all with an injury that he kept to himself. Chuck is a very wealthy man who didn't need to fight for a paycheque but rather because it became is life.

 

[Tech N9ne]

I am glad he has been given a job. He definitely deserves it. UFC should always have some sort of paycheck for Chuck. IMO, they owe him a lot.

I must admit, in a sense, I can be an impartial fan. But Chuck is one of those guys I could never be unbiased when he fought. No matter who he fought, I always wanted to see "The Iceman" win.

I did not want to see another fight with Tito. Truly, there was no reason for it. Chuck dominated him twice and Tito does not deserve a chance at a small amount of redemption by fighting Chuck and having a puncher's chance at a lucky victory.

Tito talked a lot of shit and got his ass handed to him TWICE! That is enough for me.

I am glad to see that Chuck will not be taking anymore punishment in the Octagon, but he and his fights will be sorely MISSED!!

 

[Via Armbar]

I respect Liddell for what he has done and who he has been for the sport. Him and Couture ushered in an era of new heights for the UFC in the middle of the decade and the UFC or mma as a whole wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't for them. Chuck will definitely go down as one of the greatest 205ers of all time and one of, if not the most popular fighters of all time.

I still honestly believe that some of the competition he faced during his reign wasn't really what it should have been though. Here's a list of his title defenses:

Ortiz x2
Couture x2
Vernon White 20-25 record at the time
Jeremy Horn
Sobral

Couture I can understand booking a third fight between as they had 1 and 1 a piece. Ortiz he had already beaten decisively the firs time and Tito's wins since the first fight was two drubbings of Shamrock and two gift decisions against Griffin and Belfort. Same story with Babalu. Vernon White, though a tough journeyman, was a huge mismatch even more than the Overeem/Duffee from a few days ago. I know the landscape was different back then and there weren't as many big 205ers in the UFC, but it bothers me when people rank him above Wanderlei at the time or Shogun who in my opinion has the strongest resume at 205.