Will Dana have to fire Chuck Liddell?
This question is for sure the elephant in the room when it comes to talking about Chuck Liddell and his career in the UFC. Chuck recently went on record and said this:
“I still love fighting. I don’t know what we’re going to come up with. I’m going to start spending a lot of time training guys or get back in there –- one of the two. I needed some time off. “Dancing” actually gave me something to concentrate on and get in shape on. I just want to get back in shape and stay in shape and start training with people and see what I want to do. [And] why would anyone even want to see me fight Kimbo? I have no interest in that fight. Whatever. It is what it is. I guess I’d do it, if that’s who I had to fight to come back.”
So it’s pretty clear that Chuck has no intention of going quietly into the night and that the only way he would be stopped is by actions from Dana White. We also know that Dana, who considers Chuck a good friend, does not want to see his friend take anymore punishment especially since he has achieved everything he could have and more in the UFC. Given these facts, one has to wonder, will Dana have to put his foot down and officially fire Chuck Liddell? Of course it would never officially be a “firing” as it would be dressed up as a forced retirement for Chuck by way of Dana just not giving him anymore matches to fight in via not renewing Chuck’s contract. Whatever it would be, fans of UFC for sure don’t want to see Chuck go down in a such a way.
It’s sort of like Brett Favre. Fans don’t want to see him get the boot by the teams in the NFL, they want to see one of two scenarios. One, Brett Favre decides to accept the truth and retire on his own or two, he wins a superbowl and then retires on a high note. Same thing with Chuck. We want to see him retire on his own or we want to see him get the belt back first and then retire leaving the title to be fought by the top contenders. Now, I would love to see scenario two happen but I also have to be realistic. Chuck is 40 years old, and the fighters in the LHW division just keep getting younger and stronger. That division is so stacked it’s not even funny. So given that the chances of Chuck winning the belt again are slim to none, do we really want to see him jump back in just to see him suffer. I don’t.
Then again, it’s not really my choice is it. It’s not even Dana White’s choice either. Chuck is his own man and he will make his own decisions. Does the buck ultimately stop at Dana? Yes it does. However, I think with all that Chuck has given to the sport of MMA and everything that he has done he deserves to get what he wants. He loves his job, plain and simple. Who am I to say that he should be prevented from doing what he loves? All I know is that I’m looking at the scenarios set up and I can see only three ways in which Chuck leaves the octagon for good: He retires, Dana fires him, or a body bag and the scary part is I think Chuck would take scenario 3 before he would ever consider scenario 1.
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