Our resident MMA expert Turd Ferguson addresses the recent retirement of MMA legend Chuck Liddell.

The MMA world was shocked, SHOCKED, I tellz ya, to learn this week that Brock Lesnar is considering a huge payday from his former employer, World Wrestling Entertainment (“Entertainment?” How many times do we need to see Triple H and Randy Orton go at it on “Raw?” Also, what happened to that sexy little Melina? She won’t even return my threatening emails!), to get back into the squared circle to battle the Undertaker at WrestleMania 27.

For Dana White, in order to keep attracting high buy rates, he needs big names to sell his events. So, Lesnar’s departure won’t help, unless the next UFC is setup like “The Producers” (don’t quote me on that, I’m not a theater guy — six years of tap, two of jazz).

Nor will this: the unofficial has been made official: Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell has called it quits after years of taking beatings that would make Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa clamor for Obamacare.

For most of his career, Liddell doled out punishment that would make “Zed” from “Pulp Fiction” proud.  Known for his knockout power, Liddell tore through the light heavyweight division when he first broke into the UFC in 1998. Unfortunately, after dropping the light heavyweight belt to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in 2007, Liddell has never really looked the same, kinda like Pam Anderson.

Liddell last fought in June against Rich Franklin, who won the bout despite breaking his arm (BREAKING NEWS: MMA fighters are tough). On a more serious note, Liddell is a legend in UFC, and his battles with Randy Couture did more to raise the profile of UFC than almost any other fight, except perhaps Shamrock v. Ortiz. Still, it was a little painful to see Liddell getting pounded in the octagon his last couple outings as Dana White vowed he would not promote another Liddell fight again. Considering Liddell was never someone who took his training too seriously, it’s amazing his career has lasted this long.  Even though he changed his workouts later in his career, Liddell’s hard-charging style became obsolete in a sport that is quickly evolving into an elite discipline; much like that sex scene in “Eyes Wide Shut” (where can I get masks like what Tom Cruise was wearing?).

Liddell is sticking around the sport because Dana White takes care of “his” guys (I’m looking at you Randy!). Officially, his title will now be “Vice President of Business Development,” but don’t be surprised if you also see Liddell doing commentary at future UFC PPVs, or conducting interviews. Best of luck to the Iceman, and here’s a good example of my expectations for Liddell’s interviews moving forward:

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