Chuck Liddell retires; named UFC Top Executive

[Dpantherman]

officially retired from mixed martial arts on Wednesday, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion will remain with the company he helped turn into the world’s biggest MMA promotion.

UFC president Dana White announced Liddell’s retirement at the UFC 125 pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas. White revealed that the 41-year-old “Iceman” will be joining the ranks of the UFC brass as the company’s new executive vice president of business development.

“He’s on level and on par with all the top executives. There’s about five or six of us, and Chuck Liddell is now one of them,” White said.

“Chuck will be involved in many different things as vice president of business development,” added UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta. “He’ll be working on not only the obvious regulatory issues, fighter relations, but mainly new business development. We continue to grow here in North America, with the U.S. and Canada, but we’ve got so many more things to do around the world.”

Liddell leaves MMA with a record of 21-8, and a legacy as one of the sport’s all-time biggest stars and most devastating knockout artists.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Liddell-Retires-Iceman-Named-to-UFC-Executive-Position-29068

Where do you guys rank the Iceman all time???

[Snake]

Wow I love the ice man but it really was time to call it a day.

I would rank him prob top 15 as a fighter but as a fan fav he will always be #1. No one put on a show like the Ice Man.

[YourMomsLover]

Damn right man...once he started in on you...he wasn't stoppin until your ass was on the ground!

[TheRealDeal]

He's my favorite fighter to watch of all time but I don't know where he ranks. I've hung out with him a few times and been up to AKA twice and he's a cool dude.

My favorite is the story of him at the Lee Murray and Tito Ortiz street fight. The gist of it is Chuck has his back against the wall and is KNOCKING PEOPLE OUT left and right with one punch. I get an awesome visual every time I hear that story.

[TheRealDeal]

"So it's four o'clock in the morning and they had everybody leave the club, right? Well, the UFC had bussed us all over there but they didn't have a bus to take us back. It's down to Mark, me [Pat Miletich], Tony Fryklund, Chuck Liddell, Tito [Ortiz] and Lee Murray. Lee Murray's crew was still there, Tito's crew was also still there. I walked out the back door to go in the alley. Tito's buddy jumped on my back. He jumped on my back and acted like he had me in a choke hold, just messing around, you know? Then I felt him get ripped off of me. I turned around and Tony Fryklund had HIM in a chokehold, and was really choking him. The guy looked like a mouse that just got trapped in a mousetrap; his eyes were popping out and obviously he wasn't breathing. Tony thought he was actually attacking me – that's the only reason he did it. So I turned round and told Tony to let him go, and Tony let him go. Then Tito's buddy turned around and basically said ‘what the f*** are you doing?' to Tony. Well, when he said that, one of Lee Murray's buddies, that one guy who kind of took care of us all week long, thought this guy was actually trying to fight us, so he ran out of the crowd and cracked this kid with a right hand and knocked him out cold.... The entire alley erupted into a huge brawl. I was just standing there, and there were bodies flying all over the place. I was confused how it all happened, because it happened so fast. I was standing there with my mouth open like ‘what the hell is going on?' I looked over and Chuck Liddell was with his back against the wall, knocking people out that were trying to go after him. Then I looked over and there's Tito directly past me, taking his coat off, going after Lee Murray, and Lee Murray's backing up the alley taking his jacket off. Both their jackets come off, and Tito throws a left hook at Lee Murray and misses, and right as he missed, Lee Murray counters with, like, a five-punch combo, landed right on the chin, and knocked Tito out. OUT. Tito fell face-first down to the ground, and then Lee Murray stomped him on the face a couple of times with his boots."

http://www.mmamania.com/2007/12/28/matt-hughes-recalls-streetfight-between-tito-ortiz-and-lee-murray-in-2002/

[TheRealDeal]

Lee Murray is also a very interesting story...I think they are making a movie about it

[Mr. Scot]

Definitely one of the best, but his ring record does't tell the whole story.

Liddell probably did more to raise the profile of MMA than anyone short of Randy Couture and Dana White.

Always loved that he had an accounting degree. I'd love to have had him as my accountant and then get called in for a tax audit.

("got a problem with my returns? talk to my accountant")

Wonder if any of the other UFC guys will follow him on "Dancing with the Stars"

[Razzy]

At board meetings, his incoherent brain-damaged rambling always means "yes".

He did a lot to raise UFC to a new level and it was time to quit. Unfortunately, like most fighters he doesn't really seem like a quality person.

[TheRealDeal]

At board meetings, his incoherent brain-damaged rambling always means "yes".

He did a lot to raise UFC to a new level and it was time to quit. Unfortunately, like most fighters he doesn't really seem like a quality person.

Where do you get that impression?