Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Thoughts On Chuck Liddell and The Ultimate Fighter Finale 11
Jun 16, 2010 - 9:01:34 AM HYDEN BLOG: Thoughts On Chuck Liddell and The Ultimate Fighter Finale 11

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor

I've always been the type of person who thinks that someone should be able to keep doing whatever they want as long as they can. The exception to that is when they start to put themselves in danger.

I didn't care how long Michael Jordan wanted to keep playing. If some team was willing to employ him, and he wanted to keep playing, I was all for it. He wasn't endangering himself, though. That's the situation Chuck Liddell finds himself in now.

Chuck is in danger. The reality is that all fighters are in danger, to varying degrees. However, it's painfully obvious that Chuck is in a much higher degree of danger than most other fighters. Chuck has been knocked out four times in his last six fights, and head injuries are nothing to mess around with. I don't know Chuck's concussion history, but each punch or kick he takes makes it that much more likely that he'll suffer a concussion.

Ideally, every great athlete could go out like John Elway did, winning two Super Bowls back-to-back and then retiring. This isn't an ideal world, though, and many greats are forced out long after their primes are over. The greatest receiver of all-time, Jerry Rice, was forced to retire after having every team in the NFL tell him that they didn't want him. I'm sure that's a hard pill for elite athletes to swallow, but it seems to happen more often than not.

I'm not concerned with Chuck's legacy. Chuck shouldn't be concerned with his legacy, that's secure. Chuck was one of the greatest fighters of all-time. What's happening to him doesn't change that. As time passes, people tend to remember the good moments, not the bad. In ten years people will remember the wars Chuck had with Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture, they won't focus on him getting knocked out by Rashad Evans or Mauricio Rua. Chuck's place in the pantheon of fighters is already built. He put in the work, now it's time for Chuck to sit back and enjoy the benefits of what he accomplished.


Quick Random Thoughts

I'll be interested to see if Matt Hamill can get past Keith Jardine this Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale. Jardine's been in the gatekeeper role for a while and is definitely an enigma. Jardine has lost his last three fights, four of his last five, five of his last seven, and six of his last ten. However, during that span, Jardine beat Chuck Liddell (that meant more back then) and Forrest Griffin. It's hard to read Jardine, and I'm tempted to pick him in this fight, but I think I've got to go with Hamill here. I'd love to see Jardine win, but I just can't pick him.

Jamie Yager fights Rich Attonito on the TUF 11 Finale card as well. I can't help but think that the UFC matched Yager against Attonito because they thought that Yager would beat Attonito, thus setting up more interesting fights between Yager and Kyacey Uscola (who got attacked by pitbulls after filming the show and needed time to recover) and James Hammortree or Clayton McKinney. Or maybe they just wanted to test Yager to see if he has any heart.

I'm really glad that Kenny Florian will be handling commentary with Mike Goldberg at the TUF 11 Finale and WEC 49. I really don't like Joe Rogan. Sometimes he can be good, but more often that not, I find him to be extremely bad. Side-note to those who may be interested, he's not very funny, either. Don't waste your time or money on his comedy shows. I loved when he called out Carlos Mencia, but that doesn't make him funny. Rogan's about as funny as Seanbaby. In other words, he's not.

Comments or suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com