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There really isn’t a bigger star than Chuck Liddell in the sport of mixed martial arts.

The guy was born to fight. From his signature hair cut to his in-ring intensity and the way he carries himself outside the cage, there’s no denying that the guy is doing the job he was meant to do.

A strong wrestler that can strike, Chuck posed as a huge problem for any opponent that was brave enough to step inside the octagon with him. Those that did enter to face him, knew their mohawk sporting opponent had only one intention once the action started. It wasn’t to choke them, or armlock them or even ground and pound them into submission; Chuck was looking for the knockout! Scary and intimidating for his opposition, it was this mindset that made Chuck a huge hit with pretty much every fight fan out there.

Who didn’t like when he took out Tito Ortiz with strikes both times? I know I did!

For me it’s been really sad to see Chuck, a guy who has done so much for mixed martial arts, lose his last five of six fights. Even more bothersome is the way he’s lost those matches; KO’d or TKO’ed in four of them.  I really hope that any damage Chuck’s taken inside the cage over the years doesn’t permanently affect him in any way outside of the cage in his everyday life.

Should he retire?

I think so as it’s not worth risking the many years he has ahead of him by fighting in a sport that he has already achieved so much in.

Ultimately the choice is his and if he want to keep fighting I wish him all the best and will cheer him on each and every time he scraps. If he does retire,  there’s no questioning the fact that he will be remembered as one of the sport’s biggest stars for a very long time.

Thanks Chuck for the great fights and highlight reel knockouts over the years! You the man!

Ever since my fight with Josh Koscheck I wondered what UFC fights would be like inside a cage smaller than the 32 foot diameter octagon that is being used now. I had spent a lot of time training in a smaller cage for that fight but looking back it would have been wiser to spar in a big open area with no ropes or cage surrounding my sparring partners and I. That’s pretty much how big the octagon feels.

The large diameter of the UFC cage combined with the fact that its 8 sides makes it really difficult to mount any offense against an opponent who doesn’t want to engage. With no real effective way to corner a fighter who is looking to simply stay out of range and move, fights can quickly become boring.

During my fight with Josh Koscheck, it was a major challenge to get him close enough to kick let alone punch, and even after I’d land a hard shot he’d be back out of range making combination punching almost impossible. I remember at one point actually leaping in at him while throwing a 4 punch combo and still couldn’t reach him with any of the strikes! My boxing coach still laughs about that moment as I think it threw me right into a take down.

The lack of striking returns from Koscheck luckily didn’t affect our fight because Josh engaged often, scoring some nice takedowns which kept our battle going on the ground.

We’ve seen a few situations  (ie. Starnes/Quarry comes to mind) where a fighter totally chooses to constantly disengage and the other fighter has absolutely no chance of catching up to them. Nate was actually running forward after Starnes at one point and still couldn’t do it.

Lately, I think the large cage has allowed fighters to slow and sometimes nearly halt the action within a fight. In my opinion this is extremely bad for the sport and will without a doubt hurt it’s growth in the future. Some fighters are scoring a takedown or two or landing a few mediocre shots and then riding out the clock because they absolutely know that their opponent will not be able to force them to fight.

Some champions don’t seem to want to take risks anymore using the large cage to move freely while fighting conservatively and winning by decision. I think is an approach that robs the audience of the huge amounts of excitement that many match-ups could have brought. As a fighter I’ve always looked at decision victories as much less than a full win. Sort of a “to be continued” since no one was submitted or knocked out in the process.

I think a smaller UFC octagon will promote action during fights and liven up upcoming fight cards. Let’s keep the UFC excitement train rolling!

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With the UFC’s recent signing of champion boxer James Toney there has been a lot of talk in the media.

I think it’s great to have a highly accomplished boxer within the ranks of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and I’m really looking forward to seeing him go at it in the Octagon. His success will depend on who he gets matched up with first.

From a style standpoint the ideal fighter for him to fight would be someone who likes to strike but possesses less than stellar take down skills. With some basic wrestling training, consisting mostly of drilling defensive movements, I believe Toney can prove to be very dangerous against any fighter who fits that description. Give him a fighter with solid take down ability  and I think he loses the fight sometime in the first round.

It’s all going to come down to what the UFC’s plans are with James Toney. Do they want to see him dominated in his first fight to send a message to the boxing world ? Or do they want to help him climb the ranks and build on his already substantial star status,  by giving him fights in which he has an average to good chance of winning?

Anyone in particular you think would be a good match up for James Toney?