Lex Lossis
06-03-2007, 03:22 PM
It’s back to work for Liddell
If everything had gone as planned -- as it has for his last seven fights, a span of over three years -- Chuck Liddell would be kicking back right now in the midst of one well-earned vacation. Thoughts of training regimens and steamy gyms would be the furthest things from his mind.
But it didn’t work out the way the 37-year-old Liddell has grown accustomed. So, instead, the former UFC light heavyweight champ is counting down the hours until he’s right back in the thick of training. The Iceman plans to begin tomorrow -- a good two weeks earlier than he would have had he not lost his title to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“I want to fight as soon as possible,” Liddell said from his home in California. “(Losing) makes you want to get back in there and fight again. It changes stuff a little bit. It makes you want to get back and train.
“I need one more big run before I retire. I’m as hungry as I can be. I definitely don’t want to leave like this.”
The first-round TKO was a stunner. Rampage knocked Liddell to the canvas with a right hook and then pounced. Four unanswered blows later, referee John McCarthy jumped in and stopped the bout.
“I made a mistake,” said Liddell, who said he’s watched the tape a few times. “I did something I’ve been taught not to do. I was overanxious to throw a body shot. I thought I could hurt him with it. I made a mistake and got caught. I paid for it. I’ve gotten away with that a lot of times before.
“It’s something I just don’t throw. I need to throw a combination before, not lead with it. I got caught.”
The blow to Liddell’s jaw set in motion an abrupt end to the much-anticipated fight, finishing the main event at the 1:53 mark of the first round. Was the fight stopped too soon?
“I agree with (the decision to stop the fight),” Liddell said. “I needed a couple of seconds to recover, and you don’t get that. He jumped on me smart and quick.
“I don’t think it’s a bad matchup for me,” Liddell said of his two losses to Rampage. “I just got caught. I still think I can beat him and I hope I get another shot at it.”
So what now? Liddell says his body feels OK after the quick defeat, and though he begins training again tomorrow, he still must serve the mandatory 45-day UFC suspension for being knocked out. Even more daunting is the prospect that, for the first time since a June 6, 2003 loss to Randy Couture, Liddell now must undertake the challenge of working his way back into contention.
The road back to the belt will not be easy. It will begin with a long-awaited fight against Wanderlai Silva, probably sometime toward the end of the year. Silva, like Liddell, recently lost his Pride light heavyweight belt to Dan Henderson, in a fight staged in Las Vegas, shortly before the UFC bought the Japanese-based organization.
Liddell-Silva is a fight that UFC president Dana White has been trying to make for a while, going to the extreme of bringing Silva into the ring during a UFC card, asking him who he wanted to fight, and Silva responding that he wanted Liddell.
“It’s going to be a striking battle,” Liddell said of the matchup with Silva. “Who’s going to hit harder and throw more punches. I think from the things I’ve seen (of him) that’s what it will be.”
Liddell has long been the face of the UFC and can take a lot of credit for its recent explosion among mainstream fans. Despite the loss, he will still carry the torch, appearing on “The Late Show With David Letterman” and at Spike TV’s “Guys’ Choice Awards” in the coming weeks. Though he’s heard from many of his fans since the fight, he’s not ready to start talking about his legacy quite yet.
“I’m still too busy fighting,” he said. “I’ll look back in a while. Right now I want to get back in the ring and fight again. I have a hard time losing at anything.”
Tomorrow, he starts anew.
If everything had gone as planned -- as it has for his last seven fights, a span of over three years -- Chuck Liddell would be kicking back right now in the midst of one well-earned vacation. Thoughts of training regimens and steamy gyms would be the furthest things from his mind.
But it didn’t work out the way the 37-year-old Liddell has grown accustomed. So, instead, the former UFC light heavyweight champ is counting down the hours until he’s right back in the thick of training. The Iceman plans to begin tomorrow -- a good two weeks earlier than he would have had he not lost his title to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“I want to fight as soon as possible,” Liddell said from his home in California. “(Losing) makes you want to get back in there and fight again. It changes stuff a little bit. It makes you want to get back and train.
“I need one more big run before I retire. I’m as hungry as I can be. I definitely don’t want to leave like this.”
The first-round TKO was a stunner. Rampage knocked Liddell to the canvas with a right hook and then pounced. Four unanswered blows later, referee John McCarthy jumped in and stopped the bout.
“I made a mistake,” said Liddell, who said he’s watched the tape a few times. “I did something I’ve been taught not to do. I was overanxious to throw a body shot. I thought I could hurt him with it. I made a mistake and got caught. I paid for it. I’ve gotten away with that a lot of times before.
“It’s something I just don’t throw. I need to throw a combination before, not lead with it. I got caught.”
The blow to Liddell’s jaw set in motion an abrupt end to the much-anticipated fight, finishing the main event at the 1:53 mark of the first round. Was the fight stopped too soon?
“I agree with (the decision to stop the fight),” Liddell said. “I needed a couple of seconds to recover, and you don’t get that. He jumped on me smart and quick.
“I don’t think it’s a bad matchup for me,” Liddell said of his two losses to Rampage. “I just got caught. I still think I can beat him and I hope I get another shot at it.”
So what now? Liddell says his body feels OK after the quick defeat, and though he begins training again tomorrow, he still must serve the mandatory 45-day UFC suspension for being knocked out. Even more daunting is the prospect that, for the first time since a June 6, 2003 loss to Randy Couture, Liddell now must undertake the challenge of working his way back into contention.
The road back to the belt will not be easy. It will begin with a long-awaited fight against Wanderlai Silva, probably sometime toward the end of the year. Silva, like Liddell, recently lost his Pride light heavyweight belt to Dan Henderson, in a fight staged in Las Vegas, shortly before the UFC bought the Japanese-based organization.
Liddell-Silva is a fight that UFC president Dana White has been trying to make for a while, going to the extreme of bringing Silva into the ring during a UFC card, asking him who he wanted to fight, and Silva responding that he wanted Liddell.
“It’s going to be a striking battle,” Liddell said of the matchup with Silva. “Who’s going to hit harder and throw more punches. I think from the things I’ve seen (of him) that’s what it will be.”
Liddell has long been the face of the UFC and can take a lot of credit for its recent explosion among mainstream fans. Despite the loss, he will still carry the torch, appearing on “The Late Show With David Letterman” and at Spike TV’s “Guys’ Choice Awards” in the coming weeks. Though he’s heard from many of his fans since the fight, he’s not ready to start talking about his legacy quite yet.
“I’m still too busy fighting,” he said. “I’ll look back in a while. Right now I want to get back in the ring and fight again. I have a hard time losing at anything.”
Tomorrow, he starts anew.