Evans Gets Title Shot / Liddell Addresses Retirment
September 8, 2008 by RedSweat
Filed under Uncategorized
In addition to adding his name to the short list of fighters who have “iced” Liddell, during his 27 fight career, Rashad Evans also solidified his status as the number one contender on Saturday with his swift and shocking knockout of the former light heavyweight champ.
His stunning upset victory over the former champ also earned him an immediate title shot against the current champ Forrest Griffin at a yet to be determined event. White confirmed the title bout during the post-event press conference following Saturday’s show.
Although White wouldn’t nail down a date for the championship affair, he did say that he had a date in mind which could very well be the UFC’s December 27th event in Vegas.
In addition to destroying Liddell’s plans for a title shot against Griffin, Saturday’s main event upset has also brought about speculation of “The Iceman’s” future plans as a fighter including retirement.
Liddell addressed the option of retirement in an interview with Sherdog.com.
“I’ll definitely take a little time,” said Liddell, who turns 39 in three months. “I always said I’ll decide if I want to retire in the training room, not after a fight. I’m fine. I got caught. What do you want me to say?”
While Chuck admits that it will be an uphill battle, he still has no plans of backing down from his original goal of reclaiming the light heavyweight title.
“It’s still my goal to get back in there [and win the title],” Liddell said, “but, obviously, it’s going to take a little bit longer.”
Regardless of his plans, Saturday’s brutal KO was a major wake up call for the legendary striker. How he overcomes his disappointing knockout loss to the undefeated Evan’s will no doubt be the turning point in the future Hall of Famer’s MMA career.
ManUp Vic on Mon, 8th Sep 2008 12:12 pm
who else thinks Chuck should move up to heavyweight a la Randy Couture?
jason on Mon, 8th Sep 2008 5:06 pm
I was thinking move down a weight class for a fight and see how he feels, Its seems like once your bell is rung its easier to happen again. IDK if he could get down to 185 though but he could def. go up, I just think that the hands are alot heavier in HW. Man i am serious distraught about this ko. I think that Chuck needs to start useng his wrestleing skills also and stop depending on that one punch.
dave p on Tue, 9th Sep 2008 2:20 pm
todd my comment is to you dont sell your the man i love your site and dont know what i would do without it or if some asshole bought it but whatever you got to do whats right for you your site is the shit good luck man
RedSweat on Tue, 9th Sep 2008 5:25 pm
@Jason: Yeah he definitely needs more diversity in his game. His one punch KO game worked for a while but now it’s time to try something different.
@dave p: Thanks a lot man, it really means a lot to here such good feedback after putting so much into it. Unfortunately positive feedback doesn’t pay the bills so I don’t know. We’ll see! There is a chance I could keep it if the price isn’t right.