UFC 97: ‘SHOGUN’ KO’S LIDDELL

The UFC returned to Montreal on Saturday for UFC 97: Redemption and, despite drawing a sellout crowd, was a markedly weaker show than the promotion’s Canadian debut one year ago at UFC 83.  The highlight of a lackluster evening was Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua’s emphatic first round knockout of Chuck Liddell.  ‘Shogun’ looked better than he had since his days fighting in Japan, while the bout may have marked Liddell’s last appearance in the UFC’s iconic octagon.

At the apex of his run in the now defunct Japanese MMA promotion PRIDE, Rua was considered by many to be the top fighter in the world at 205 pounds and there was a strong opinion that he was the ‘pound for pound’ best in the sport.  He made his UFC debut in September of 2007 against Forrest Griffin, who defeated an out of shape ‘Shogun’ via submission.  Shortly thereafter, Rua took time off to have knee surgery and wouldn’t fight again until January 2009.  In his return to competition he easily decisioned 44 year old Mark Coleman, but the fact that he was unable to put away a much older opponent (Rua is 27)raised concern that ‘Shogun’ would never be able to recapture his form.

Rua was roundly booed by the crowd, while Liddell entered the cage to a thunderous ovation.  Unfortunately for ‘The Iceman’, that was the only part of his evening that even vaguely resembled the dominant performances on which he built his reputation.  ‘Shogun’ was in control from the outset, effectively peppering Liddell’s leg with kicks and knees.  Liddell appeared out of sync and as if he was having difficulty ‘letting his hands go’, while ‘Shogun’ landed several nice combinations and countered any offense that his opponent was able to muster.  Late in the round ‘Shogun’ caught Liddell with a looping overhand left that floored ‘The Iceman’.  A ‘ground and pound’ follow up was a mere formality as the ref quickly stopped in to protect Liddell from absorbing further punishment.  Afterwards, Liddell could be seen asking the ref ‘What happened?’ and ‘Is the fight over?’, a sign that he remembered nothing after Rua’s initial knockdown punch.

Although Liddell gave no conclusive indication of his future plans, there was a grim finality in the tone of Joe Rogan’s postfight interview with him where he thanked him for all he’d given to the sport.  Liddell has been the UFC’s biggest box office and PPV attraction, but with four losses in his last five fights—including three brutal KO’s at the hands of Rua, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Rashad Evans—it’s evident that he’s at the end of the road.  Credit the UFC with all but announcing his retirement for him—clearly they’ve learned from the Ken Shamrock experience, where a onetime dominant fighter refused to hang them up and diminished his reputation and that of the promotion.