Legendary UFC fighter Chuck Liddell – oh ye of the iron chin and knockout punch – was forced to retire a few years back because he kept taking naps on the Octagon floor.
But this past weekend, he was coaxed out of retirement to clash with longtime rival Tito Ortiz at Golden Boy MMA. And though “The Iceman” beat Ortiz soundly a dozen years ago, things didn’t go so smoothly this time around. Yes, Liddell wound up napping yet again.
It was so sad, in fact, that I daresay there’s a single MMA fan out there that would want to see the Iceman fight again.
Of course, Liddell being Liddell (i.e., a man who’s only known fighting all his life), he refuses to rule out another bout somewhere down the line.
It’s easy to glamorize combat, but it’s much hard to accept the very real toll it takes on our favorite athletes. And with Liddell, it’s easy to see what that toll exacted. He’s a walking CTE bomb waiting to happen.
Should he fight again? Hell no! Will he? I hope not.
And if you have any morals, you should hope that, too.