Chuck Liddell - Who's Next?

With only 2 losses in his last twenty Mixed Martial Artslikely the most aggressive fighter in MMA. For a long
fights; there is little doubt that Chuck Liddell is the besttime, this fight was an MMA fans biggest dream fight,
light heavyweight fighter in the world. Still, fans of thebut with Silva suffering back to back losses; one to
UFC always want to see good battles, so it's worthMirko Cro Cop (a heavyweight) and most recently
looking forward to those fighters, UFC, Pride orloosing his Pride title to Dan Henderson, it looks like this
elsewhere who might give Chuck Liddell a run for hisfight will not happen. If it did, I would think that Chuck
money.would eventually knock Silva out.
Chuck Liddell is on a seven fight winning streak, his lastWhat about Mauricio "Shogun" Rua? For those of you
defeat coming at the hands of Quinton "Rampage"who haven't seen Shogun fight, think of a guy with
Jackson in November of 2003. Those seven victoriesBrandon Vera's skills, Wanderlei Silva's aggression
were against some of the top light heavyweights of allwho's a natural 205 pounder. Shogun won the Pride
time, including two victories over Randy "The Natural"middleweight tournament in 2005 defeating Ricardo
Couture and two victories over Tito Ortiz. OtherArona in the finals. By the way, Arona would be
notables were submission masters Renalto "Babalu"another good fight for Chuck as he also holds a
Sobral and Jeremy Horn.victory over Wanderlei Silva. Shogun only has one
The fight against Quinton Jackson, which was held invictory in his last 13 fights and that is to a much larger
Japan under Pride rules was probably the last timeMark Coleman who slammed Shogun and broke his
that Chuck Liddell looked remotely vulnerable. His twoarm. You have to go back to 2003 to find another loss
victories over Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz werefor Shogun and for a 25 year old fighter, that's a long
easy and his dismantlingof Jeremy Horn shows howtime ago.
far Chuck has come as a fighter since the two firstI'll round out my list with Mirko Cro Cop. I don't care if
met in 1999. A fight which Horn won by submission inChuck goes up to heavyweight, or Mirko cuts weight
the first round.to 205. This is a fight that I've wanted to see for a long
So who might be the next fighter to give chuck a realtime. These guys are both excellent strikers, I'd give
fight. Will it be Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in their longthe edge in technique to Cro Cop and the edge in
awaited rematch. Now that Jackson is fighting in thepower to Liddell. Leg kicks might be the deciding factor
UFC, it's just a matter of time until we see this one. Iand Mirko Cro Cop has Chuck Liddell beaten in this
predict the summer or fall of 2007. I think that Chuckarea. No matter how this fight ends, you can bet that
Liddell is a much better fighter now than he was whenit'll be exciting. Neither of these two guys wants to
he faced Rampage the first time. Also Quintontake the fight to the ground and both of them love to
Jackson is not the same fighter that faced Chuck theknock their opponents out.
first time, unfortunately for Rampage, his skills have notSo, the fights I'd like to see Chuck Liddell in are:
gotten better. Ever since Quinton Jackson's firstChuck Liddell vs Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
knockout loss at the hands of Wanderlei Silva he hasChuck Liddell vs Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
not been the same fighter and certainly the secondChuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva
knockout loss to the same opponent did not helpChuck Liddell vs Mirko Cro Cop
matter any. Let's hope that Quinton has regained thatChuck Liddell vs Ricardo Arona
edge that made him so dangerous in the first fightI'm 99% sure we're at least going to see the Rampage
against Chuck.fight and about 50% sure that we will. eventually see
Wanderlei Silva, the former middleweight champion inthe Cro Cop fight. Let's hope that the others are in the
Pride would also give Chuck a very good fight. Silva iscards before Chuck retires.