Bjorn Hansen's Take
HANSEN: The Ultimate Company Man - “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell
Jun 21, 2010 - 3:02:35 PM HANSEN: The Ultimate Company Man - “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell

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By: Bjorn Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

The Ice Train

The soaring decade that catapulted MMA into the encouraging standing it finds itself now, has many faces to owe its thanks to: If Dana White was the architect, Chuck Liddell was the edifice he conjured in his mind’s eye.

Dana had a dream, and The Iceman was his locomotive. With the help of Chuck’s crippling one-punch power and newbie-friendly refusal to grapple, the UFC spread like wildfire.

Mr. Highlight Reel

The UFC grew as Chuck progressed. In those days, if you were a rising light heavyweight, it just seemed like it was a matter of time before you ended up on the wrong end of a highlight reel knockout.

Let’s revisit Chuck’s “greatest hits”:

5/04/01 Kevin Randleman 4/16/05 Randy Couture
5/17/01 Guy Mezger 8/20/05 Jeremy Horn
11/22/02 Renato Sobral 2/04/06 Randy Couture
8/10/03 Alistair Overeem 8/26/06 Renato Sobral
4/02/04 Tito Ortiz 12/30/06 Tito Ortiz

Payback’s a Bitch

Fresh off handing his hated rival Tito Ortiz an emasculating defeat for a second time, Chuck’s career, his aura, for the first time felt the cruel wrath of humility. For the next few years, the Iceman tacked more time lying out cold than he did doing his trademark post fight celebratory roar. The man who terrorized his foes with his concussive power was now finding himself on the wrong end of Unleashed knockout montages.

It was like the same lethal fire that breathed through the Iceman’s nostrils formerly, was now unceremoniously torching him in an omnipresent form of UFC marketing.

MMA’s Blood-Frenzied Shark Tank

Chuck had handed the baton to what is arguably the deepest division in the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general.

Here is the murderer’s row, also known as the UFC’s Light Heavyweight Division:

Current Champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Former Champion Lyoto Machida, Former Champion Rashad Evans, Former Champion Forrest Griffin, Former Champion Rampage Jackson, Former Champion Randy Couture

Each is a legitimate threat to the throne.

With sizzling hot prospect Jon Jones sure to enter the picture shortly, and crafty veterans like Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira out on the prowl, it’s no wonder the Iceman has slid so quickly and so violently.

Good Eatin’

Here’s who served Chuck a bellyful heaping of humble pie:

5/26/07 Quinton Jackson*

9/22/07 Keith Jardine

9/6/08 Rashad Evans*

4/18/09 Maurcio Rua*

6/10/10 Rich Franklin*

*devastating knockout

Is MMA Safer than Boxing? Chuck’s Future Health To Be Scrutinized

Fighting past your prime in mixed martial arts can be downright dangerous—not only to your current health during the actual hand-to-hand combat itself, but to your future well being as well. Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretsky may have suffered some humility at the enthusiastic hands of their more youthful counterparts—but we never had to watch them lay in a lifeless form during their unceremonious ‘swan song.’

Dana never wanted Chuck to continue exchanging fisticuffs. Their dream had materialized beyond any of their wildest.

Yet, Chuck’s will is cast from a different iron. Despite a hard-to-watch reversal of fortune in the Octagon, his samurai spirit never diminished. Chuck’s a fighter, and he feels there isn’t a single cell in his body that doesn’t agree. Sadly, we know differently.

The Muhammad Ali Effect, Is There an MMA Difference?

We believe MMA to be safer than boxing because of its protective void of a “standing eight count.” That prevents already concussed fighters from receiving a long, slow, steady stream of punches to the head, as may happen in boxing.

Yet, when contrasting Chuck Liddell to Muhammad Ali, you have to remember Ali was never knocked out cold the way Chuck has been—repeatedly. Chuck’s coming off four nasty knockout concussions. The question no one wants to ask aloud, or even think of internally, is will Liddell neurologically deteriorate into tragedy?

‘No Mas’

Chuck’s brain can’t do what his heart yearns for. Dana White retreated earlier and remarked that he wasn’t “Chuck’s dad.” But maybe Chuck needs that sort of paternal protection. He needs someone to step in mercifully. I know I speak for many when I say I’m entirely uninterested in watching the Iceman’s faculties switched off—again.

When your biggest victory and celebration this year came on the dodgeball field, rather than the Octagon, you should reconsider your line of work. After all, this isn’t a game; someone will indeed get hurt, and lately, and for the foreseeable future for that matter, it’s been Chuck Liddell. He needs his corner to throw in the towel, now, once and for all.

We’re all appreciative for the thrills he delivered in the Octagon and how the sport has grown because of it.

His iconic icy stare, marketable Mohawk, and legendary punching power will be forever enshrined in UFC lore.

But please Dana, ‘no mas.’

Questions, Comments? Email me at Bjorn.hansen@fiu.edu.