Chuck Liddell Retires takes Executive job with UFC

UFC President Dana White announced on Wednesday ‘s 125 UFC press conference in Las Vegas “The Iceman ” was moving away from active competition to accept a position as the new executive vice president of business development UFC.

“I want to thank Frank [Fertitta], Lorenzo [Fertitta] and Dana [White] for all that you ‘I have done for me over the years and for the sport. Most of all, I want to thank my fans, my family , “Liddell said before choking up.

“I love this sport and I ‘m excited to enter into a new phase of my life and continue to promote the best sport in the world and the sport I love. They ‘ re giving me the opportunity again to continue to promote and keep doing stuff now that I ‘m retired. ”

The 41-year-old Liddell ended his legendary career with a record of 21-8. He made his UFC debut at UFC 17 and MMA May 15, 1998, defeating Noe Hernandez by unanimous decision. After losing to Jeremy Horn at UFC 19, Liddell would go on to win his next 10 fights in a row before losing an interim light heavyweight title fight against Randy Couture at UFC 43. Liddell eventually won the 205-pound title at UFC 52 in April 2005, defeating Couture in the second round. He successfully defended the title four straight times before losing the belt to Quinton Jackson at UFC 71. This loss marked the end of Liddell ‘s dominance in the UFC, as he went 1-4 in his next five fights, including losing his last three fights in a row. Liddell ‘s last battle will go down as a loss of 115 first-round TKO at UFC Rich Franklin.

Liddell and Franklin Talk Strategy for UFC 115

Rich Franklin and Chuck Liddell will match up tomorrow night as the main card for UFC 115. The fight was arranged after Tito decided he may go under the knife once again and UFC President Dana White decided to remove him from the eleventh season of The Ultimate Fighter. It was the first time a coach was asked to leave the show. A replacement was quickly introduced and Rich Franklin gladly became that fighter.

In preparing for the fight, Chuck Liddell as been seen in excellent shape and each fighter has outlined an overview of their strategy for the fight of ex-champs.

Rich Franklin was quoted saying, “We were talking the other day about inside leg kicks, about throwing the inside leg kicks and how Chuck’s fighting stance is a little wider so he’s going to be heavier on that front leg.” Franklin elaborated with “We were emphasizing the times I can take advantage of that, not getting caught by any kind of overhand or any kind of straight that my opponent will throw.”

Chuck Liddell on the other hand hasn’t fought for over a year unless you count competing on the dance floor. When asked if he has changed his style at all in the past year he discussed how much he has been dedicated to his training, but then stated, “I’m always going to go back to my big right hand.”

We all look forward to the fight guys…

The Ultimate Fighter 11 Week 11: We have a finale!

This week is the episode where Rich Franklin takes over for Team Ortiz in the first time a coach has been replaced. Rich Franklin will fight Chuck Liddell this Saturday at UFC 115.

At the beginning of the episode Dana is showing Rich around the newly renovated gym as Franklin was a coach several seasons ago. They meet with the team again and introduce the assistant coaches. Dana tried to stack up the staff with Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard, and Tyson.

There will be two semi-final fights including Kris McCray versus Josh Bryant and teammates Brad Tavares versus the relentless Court McGee. This season has been packed with top notch fighters and the fair share of injuries to top fighters, but the final fights are strong matchups and should be exciting.

Court and Brad are first up and both are contenders to be The Ultimate Fighter and are now just two fights away from doing so. The fighters feel each other out to begin the round, but it doesn’t take long before the fighters engage. About a minute and a half in and Court comes in and pins Tavares against the cage, ultimately taking him to the ground. This is where Court wants the fight to be and is in control. Tavares isn’t taking any punishment and does manage to get back to his feet.

The fighters have a minor exchange and with less than two minutes remaining Court moves in again and grabs hold of Brad. The fighters are throwing but both are missing. The activity is high, but nothing damaging because no one is really connecting. Another takedown for Court, but the fighters are quickly to their feet again as the round comes to a close.

In round two the fighters aren’t waiting. Quickly they jab and punch trying to open up an opportunity. Quickly though a minute thirty is past and just then Court McGee connects sending Tavares back at least five feet. They fight for control against the cage for a bit and are back at center ring with two minutes plus remaining. A soft kick here and there along with a punch or two and the Brad connects with a strong righthand to McGee’s chin but he doesn’t even blink. A minute left and Brad is increasing his intensity. A couple nice punches, but when trying to land a kick he is caught by McGee and Court manages to push him against the cage, but the round ends there.

Round three will be the test for both fighters to hang it all out and they come out blazing. In the flurry, Brad cracks Court in the sack and we take a breather. The intensity remains as the fighters are back into the action as both know how close they are. Likely an even fight to this point, the fighters exchange punches and kicks. Court seems to be tiring faster than Tavares, but isn’t out by any stretch. Brad breaks away from a clutch from McGee and as they move back around the righ Court McGee catches Tavares and he is visibly hurt. As he recovers Court continues to try and tire Brad and in doing so returns the favor with a kick to the sack. He grazed it at best but Brad takes the opportunity to catch his breath. McGee lands another good punch to the cheek of Tavares , but again during the follow-on exchange and inside kick catches Tavares in the goods.

As they come back McGee gets Bard on the chin again and as he wobbles, takes him down. While on the ground he has hold of Tavares’ neck and before you know it, Brad is non-responsive – lights out.

The coaches work with Kris McCray to improve his technical game in hopes to not get gassed in his rematch against Josh. Yeager runs his mouth once again and when Kacey confronts him to step outside, once again he decides not to enter the ring. Not even worth talking about anymore. He will surely be matched against someone at the finale and lose.

Dana is picking Bryant in this one and we are about to find out how good the President picks ‘em. The fighters know what is at stake and they are both energized. Kris is a bit sloppy as he tries to take Bryant down and takes a few punches because of it. He does get Josh down, but Josh gets to his feet. The cycle happens again and again. Kris seems exhausted from the exchange and Bryant is eyeing up a chance to come in. The fighters have a few good exchanges as they punch, kick, clutch and repeat. With a minute to go they wrap up against the cage and rest. With under thirty seconds to go Bryant lands a serious blow to McCray’s chin. The round ends.

Round two picks up where the fighters left off and McCray once again has Bryant against the cage. As they end up back in the center of the octagon McCray connects with a least six consecutive uppercuts, but Bryant resets grabs a hold of McCray and pins him against the cage. The fighters exchange blows to the head and both are now seemingly tired. Punches are trailing wide and they take another short rest against the octagon wall. Both breathing heavily at this point, however they are both staying very active. With less than a minute remaining they are once again against the cage until McCray pushed Bryant off and connects with a punch to the head. Bryant returns a solid blow and clutches him driving him into the cage until the close of the round.

Round three. The fighters meet in the center, touch gloves and begin to get it on. Both standing tall they trade jabs and punches for the first full minute. McCray ultimately grabs hold and keeps Bryant contained against the cage. Bryant manages to break out with over three minutes but find himself wrapped up again. Both fighters land good shots as the fight progresses which will make it very difficult if it goes to the judges. Down to a minute thirty and if either fighter connects solid the other is surely to fall. They trade monster shots in the center of the octagon, and as the fight closes it could go either way.

Winner McCray with a unanimous decision. Two great fights to wrap up the season. No doubt McGee will take this one, but we will have to wait and see. With McCray well rested – keep in mind he fought five times in six weeks – it might be more of a fight that we give it credit to be. See ya then.

Ortiz Out, Franklin to Meet Liddell at UFC 115

Despite poorly executed misdirection by Dana White and Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin has been confirmed as Liddell’s opponent (replacing Tito Ortiz) at the June 12 UFC 115 event. The change was essentially confirmed as a result of tickets going on sale next Tuesday with the UFC Event Poster and tentative event roster now reflecting the revised Light Heavyweight match up.

Dana White went on the record recently denying the rumor that Ortiz was out, and Franklin was in, for the showdown in Vancouver with Liddell after rumors swirled about potential problems with Ortiz. Leaked reports indicated that Ortiz encountered some type of medical issue, was unable to finish taping of The Ultimate Fighter 11, and that Franklin was tapped as his potential replacement at some point on the show and would likely meet “The Iceman” at UFC 115 as a result. Liddell chimed in towing the company line shortly after stating that “from what he understood” he was still fighting Ortiz. While Liddell didn’t explicitly state that he was still fighting Ortiz, White was adamant in his denials, yet later admitted that he wouldn’t necessarily tell the truth anyway.

Liddell (21-7) was last seen getting dropped in the 1st round by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97, and has lost four of his last five fights. His recent performances have caused many to wonder how much time he has left in the sport, and the match up at UFC 115 may answer that once and for all. Although White tried unsuccessfully to nudge him into retirement after his loss at UFC 97, Liddell will now meet former UFC Middleweight champion Rick Franklin (26-5), a winner in three of his last five fights. Franklin is still widely considered a dangerous opponent for anyone at 185 or 205 lbs, and should be a solid favorite when facing Liddell.

Ortiz out, Franklin in. Although “The Iceman’s” opponent changed, the gear didn’t. Check out all of the official The Ultimate Fighter Clothing in our store.

Chuck Liddell: It’s Ortiz… I Think

“I’ve heard the rumors, of course, but from what I understand, (Ortiz) is signed to fight, and he’s still going to actually show up and get the beating he’s supposed to get… I think I earned it having to put up with him for seven weeks. I earned the right to go out there and beat him.”

- Chuck Liddell during a conference call promoting the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter 11 slated to debut immediately following the Ultimate Fight Night 21: Florian vs. Gomi event on Spike TV. Rumors have swirled, and Dana White has played coy, on the legitimacy of Liddell meeting Tito Ortiz for a third time after the conclusion of TUF 11. Leaked reports have surfaced indicating that Ortiz was unable to complete the filming of the reality show for unknown reasons (further fueled by bizarre Tweets by Ortiz and wife Jenna Jameson), may have been replaced as a coach by former UFC Middleweight champion Rich Franklin, and that it may actually be Franklin – not Ortiz – who ends up fighting Liddell at UFC 115. Time will tell.

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Vitor Belfort: Beats Me

“I’m waiting for the UFC to decide my opponent. But I will fight on February 6. I don’t know whether it is against Anderson (Silva), though. That’s that thing; we never know nothing in the UFC. The things go on and we don’t know. I signed to fight in February and they already warned me about it. The opponent is [sometimes] changed near the time of the fight.”

- Vitor Belfort on the uncertainty of his next opponent at UFC 109 on February 6. After dismantling Rich Franklin at UFC 103 via strikes in the first round, it was thought to be a foregone conclusion that Belfort’s next fight would be against Anderson Silva for the UFC’s middleweight title in early 2010. However, reports have started surface that Silva’s recovery from a recent surgery has been slower than expected and the Phenom might be fighting someone else.