Where Does Chuck Liddell Go From Here?

Without a doubt, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is an MMA legend, with an unbelievable career highlighted by one of the most impressive championship stints in UFC history.

From April 2004 until May 2007, Chuck rode a seven fight win streak including victories over Tito Ortiz, Jeremy Horn, and Renato "Babalu" Sobral. And most famously, Chuck took out Randy Couture at UFC 52 for the light heavyweight belt, holding it until UFC 71.

Chuck’s knockout loss to Rampage Jackson at that event was the beginning of a slump where Chuck lost three of four fights. There is no shame in losing to Rampage, Keith Jardine, and Rashad Evans, but there's a greater them at play - the fact that people (especially those trained by Greg Jackson) have learned how to beat Chuck. The main reason Chuck was so dominant for so long was that fighters respected his striking way too much, and continually tried to take him to the ground.

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, we know that was a foolish strategy, because Chuck has the second best takedown defense in MMA behind BJ Penn. But in Chuck's recent losses, his opponents were either 1) willing to stand with him and take their chances (Rampage and Rashad) or 2) aiming to pick Chuck with strikes (Jardine).

So where does Chuck go from here?

First, it's pretty unlikely that Chuck will be in title contention any time soon. His fight with Rashad Evans was meant to be a gimme so Chuck could win and face Forrest Griffin on New Year's Eve in a megafight for the light heavyweight title. Only problem was, nobody told Rashad he was supposed to lose.

And with Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Thiago Silva, Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva, and Shogun Rua all in the mix for the title, Chuck has an awful lot of tough competitors to run through before getting back up to the top of the division. That will be an awfully hard task given that the cat is out of the bag in terms of strategies to take on the Iceman. And needless to say, Chuck isn’t getting any younger.

So if I’m UFC matchmaker, I’d look at putting Chuck into superfights that will bring in big bucks rather than fights that will put him into title contention. For example, bouts with Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson would probably sell extremely well.

Alternately, Chuck could take on up and comers like Sokodjou and Brandon Vera, helping to build the popularity of these potential stars. Both sides would win because there’s no shame in losing to Chuck Liddell, and the Iceman’s legacy would stay intact unless he lost in a particularly embarrassing fashion.

There have been calls for Chuck to retire, but I think Chuck still has some fight in him. Let’s give him one more chance. Who knows? He might just shock us and get back in the running for the title.