The Tuesday Takedown 09.25.07
Posted by Adam Morgan on 09.25.2007
Join me this week on The Tuesday Takedown as we take a look at Chuck Liddell's options following UFC 76, Rich Franklin's move, a look ahead to this weekend's Strikeforce card at the Playboy Mansion, Ricco Rodriguez spits on Ben Rothwell, and more!
UFC Quips & Quotes
Is Chuck Lidell retiring?
The biggest news coming out of UFC 76 this past weekend is not that Chuck Liddell lost, but that he's considering retirement. Directly after the event, Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports reported that Dana White had a long conversation with Chuck in the locker room during which Chuck spoke to Dana about considering retirement.
Perhaps the most well known and most embraced mixed martial artist on the planet is considering retirement, ladies and gentlemen.
I've rooted for Chuck and I've rooted against him. He's given us some of the best knockouts that UFC has ever seen and has had an unprecedented tear through the light heavyweight division. Yes, he was fed a steady diet of wrestlers and grapplers during his title reign, but he usually always finished those fights in spectacular fashion. Let's not also forget that Chuck went to Japan to compete in their light heavyweight tournament for a chance to face Wanderlei. Unfortunately for Chuck, he ran into a buzzsaw by the name of Rampage, but that's another story.
I was rooting for Chuck on Saturday night, not because I wanted to see him win, necessarily, but because I wanted to see him fight Wanderlei Silva, a match that hardcore fans have salivated over for years. What ended up being more important, however, was this news of Chuck's possibly impeding retirement.
Here's to you, Chuck Liddell. You're a sure fire Hall of Famer and you'll be remembered fondly by MMA fans across the world.
Chuck Liddell's not retiring?
Wait, what?
Yeah, you heard it right. After I got all sappy and whatnot above, John Hackleman, Liddell's trainer, comes out and tells The Fight Network that he and Chuck will be right back in the gym next Monday morning. Preparing for who, of all people? Let me give you the exact words out of Hackleman's piehole:
"He's already said he'll be back in the gym next Monday," said Hackleman, who has coached Liddell for 16 years. "He's going to fight again, hopefully as soon as possible, maybe in December. We're looking at ‘Shogun.'"
Shogun Rua. I mentioned on my blog directly after UFC 76 that Chuck had two options:
A) Hang up the gloves.
or
B) Fight Shogun.
This fight makes a lot of sense, but the only thing that bothers me about a potential matchup with Shogun is that Dana White has what he's always wanted: Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell in the same promotion. Just put them in the cage together already. They're both coming off consecutive losses. Make it happen, Dana. Sure, Shogun's a worthy opponent, but we all want to see what we've clamored for for years. Has the fight lost some luster? Sure, but it's still one of the biggest money fights in history for the UFC and for the fighters.
Bottom line: If Chuck's not retiring, he should absolutely be fighting Silva in December.
Alright, enough about Chuck Liddell, onto some other UFC news.
Diego Sanchez contemplating move to 155 lb. division
If there's one thing you could clearly see coming into his fight with Jon Fitch, it's that Diego Sanchez was at a serious size disadvantage. Fitch is a huge 170 lb. fighter and even had a little trouble cutting weight at the weigh-ins. Fitch used his size advantage to stuff Diego's takedowns and dominate him in top position.
Fitch may have set off a lightbulb in Diego's head. Sanchez is now contemplating moving down to 155 lbs.
There's an upside and a downside to moving down to 155 lbs. On the upside, Sanchez would be an absolute beast at 155 lbs. On the downside, the 155 lb. division is completely stacked at the top right now. The same can be said for where Diego is currently at right now, the UFC welterweight division. It's stacked from top to bottom all the way through the division. So, at this point, it's the lesser of two evils.
Diego will have to win two, maybe three more fights before a title shot at 170.
If he drops to 155, he has to be considered a top challenger already and may only have to win one, maybe two fights until he is in line for a title shot. Who wants to see BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez at 155? Me, that's who.
Rich Franklin packs up camp
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin announced to the media last week that he would be leaving Cincinnati, his home city and site of UFC 77, to prepare for his fight against Anderson Silva. There was no specific mention of where Franklin would be relocating to, only that he was going to the "western states."
Franklin's camp seems pretty tight lipped about the whole ordeal, which is good. This is a great move for Rich Franklin, who needs to do nothing but prepare for this fight against Anderson Silva. This fight could be the pinnacle of Franklin's career, so he needs to come as prepared as possible. I hope he's practicing how to get out of a thai clinch.
Some may say that it's shitty that Rich is leaving his hometown and won't be around to give interviews and hype up UFC 77 in the coming month. What these people have to understand is that Franklin has an immense amount of pressure on him. What the UFC is doing by hosting the event in Franklin's backyard is unprecedented. The PR that the UFC and the city of Cincinnati will get from a possible Franklin victory far outweighs the PR work he could do from now until October 20th.
By the way, I'm biased in this fight. I'm from Cincinnati, so I have a Franklin bias. Please don't hate me.
Let's take a look at what's happening outside of the UFC, shall we?
Around The World In MMA
New York Pitbulls win IFL Championship, Ricco Rodriguez spits on Ben Rothwell in the process
Yeah. You heard it right. Ricco Rodriguez spit on Ben Rothwell during their fight. At least it looks like he does. The show aired last night, so maybe you got your own look at it, but to me, it looks like Rodriguez spits on Rothwell in the closing seconds of the fight. Pretty classless move by a former UFC heavyweight champion. Not to mention, Rodriguez looked way out of shape. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
On another note, Renzo Gracie's Pitbull team finished an undefeated season and took home their first IFL Championship. Congrats to them and let's hope the IFL sticks around long enough for them to defend their title.
Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen's future still uncertain
One of the best lightweight fighters in the world, Joachim Hansen, continues to ride the pine on the sidelines until his contract with PRIDE/Zuffa, LLC ends. Here are some recent quotes from "Hellboy" himself, taken from an interview with The Fight Network:
"I just want to fight and make enough so that I can live decently," says Hansen. "The UFC gave me an offer in the summer, a fight with Marcus Aurelio (14-5-0). But they only wanted to pay me half the money that I was making in PRIDE. How can you say my contract is transferable, and then only offer me half of what I normally make?"
Instead of accepting the offer, Hansen says he's opted to wait out his contract with the three months left till its completion.
"We've tried all kinds of ways to get out of the contract," says Hansen. "I hired a legal firm that just kept sending me bills for things that no one could explain. They made no progress so I dismissed them. In the meantime I'm competing in boxing and kickboxing, and training constantly."
Three more months of riding the pine for one of the world's best fighters. What's funny to me is that some of these guys' contracts with PRIDE were so damn wishy washy and non-transferable (Sokoudju, Denis Kang, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Fedor) and then others such as Hansen are so rigid and strict. It doesn't make any sense. It makes you wonder how much the UFC knew about PRIDE and the inner workings before they went and dumped a bunch of money into it. My take is: not much.
Strikeforce: Bunnies, Beverages, Food, and Fights
Strikeforce will be holding an event at the Playboy Mansion this upcoming Saturday, September 29th. This is a genius idea for whoever's behind Strikeforce's booking. Bunnies, brews, food, and fights? As an MMA fan, is there more that you could possibly ask for?
Not to mention, top five lightweight Gilbert Melendez is headlining the card. Other fighters on the card include Josh "The Punk" Thompson, former UFC fighters Joe Riggs and Eugene Jackson, TUF 1 alum Bobby Southworth, and winner of WWE's Tough Enough, Daniel Puder.
Props to whoever can get their grind on in the Grotto afterwards.
That about wraps it up for this week's edition of The Tuesday Takedown, but as always, I will leave you with...
Off The Beaten Path
This week, a picture says it all:
Thanks for joining me, as always, ladies and gents, each and every Tuesday here on The Tuesday Takedown. If you want to comment, rant, rave, or give me some feedback, please feel free to email me. Or, if you just can't get enough of me, check out my blog, Sprawl 'n Brawl.
