Paid Members WeeAl Posted May 14, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 14, 2018 Chuck coming back to fight is madness. His age, how long he's been out of the game, as well as his lifestyle make this a pretty bad idea. If it was a total gimmick fight against a Ken Shamrock, or the shell of Wanderlei Silva then maybe it wouldn't be that big of a risk. However Chuck spanked Tito twice before, yet Tito only retired last year and on the back of a win, not three KO's in a row. I'd pick Tito all day in this fight in 2018, so I'm not sure why Chuck wants it. It makes sense for Ortiz though. Maybe Liddell is hurting for money, and this makes the most financial sense for him. Good luck to them both, and I just hope it doesn't end up really sad to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted May 14, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 14, 2018 There is a cracking part in 'Facing Ali' where they discuss why Ali fought on well past his prime. Ken Norton says fighters always do it because they are wondering if they've still got it. A bit like what BJ Penn is going through. IIRC, Liddell wasn't too thrilled about the idea of retiring initially, but the UFC pretty much forced him into it and offered him a sweet post-fight career gig to keep him right. While I'm sure someone got in his ear and told him how much he can potentially make for a couple of fights, there is also the thrill of the fight that I'm sure he's missing - after all, one of the most iconic images in UFC history is Liddell losing his mind in the thrill of victory, which must be impossible to recreate sober. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 14, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 14, 2018 Best response I've seen to this so far was from Ben Fowlkes on twitter... It really is lunacy. Chuck was a great fighter in his day. Like Jim says, style-wise a prime Liddell had the game that could've potentially given Jones some problems stylistically. He had the striking, the power, in his prime he had the chin, the takedown defence. He was great. But his prime ended in 2007. It's 2018, he's coming up on 49 years old, he's been retired 8 years, he hasn't won a fight since 2007 when he beat Wandy, lost his last 3 by KO and lost 5 of his last 6 fights. It sounds really disrespectful to say but I don't think Jones would even have to train to beat Chuck at this point. It'd be sad to watch. Of course, we all would watch it but we'd regret it 30 seconds in when Chuck would be left face down dribbling onto the Monster Energy logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 14, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 14, 2018 You're all gonna be shocked when Liddell gets his montage and smashes Jones into the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 Helwani has confirmed he's joining ESPN. Disappointingly, is means he's leaving his gig at MMAFighting.com, so no more of Helwani's version of the MMA Hour or the MMA Beat (both excellent shows). Apparently part of the ESPN deal will see him do a podcast with Chael Sonnen - a proper UFC Unfiltered, of sorts. Dana must be livid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_mole Posted May 18, 2018 Share Posted May 18, 2018 It's on ESPN+ apparently, we won't get to hear it, although ESPN FC the Football show has apparently moved there and I get that with on BT but who knows if they stay with BT. The MMA show with Ariel & Chael better have weekly guests as that combination sounds terrible, I watch MMA Beat every week but between some of Ariel's thoughts on MMA and Chael doing his usual stick, it could end up a really bad pro wrestling style combination, although if they play it more straight Chael can be quite good when he's not in character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 It's a great gig Helwani has landed himself there, getting in on the ground of ESPN'S run with the UFC. He'll be all over their coverage whenever there's a show to be promoted on Sports Center. I'm disappointed he's leaving MMA fighting though, and the shows connected with it. They'll suffer for losing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 I get the feeling Sonnen is smart enough to know not to play it like he does when hyping fights. Indeed, what's to hype? They won't be his fights that he's discussing, and people will have already tuned in to listen. He is definitely worth listening to as a pundit, and he'll surely know that's what he's been hired for, so I think that's the Sonnen we'll get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 I hope so but he was awful most of the times I heard him on his own podcast. And he had nothing to hype then. There was a spell where he was giving his opinion on absolutely everything and just spouting off bollocks all the time. It didn't even feel like his real opinion half the time, it was like he was just 100% going for whatever would be the most controversial take and make the headlines on the MMA sites. It does seem like he's toned that down a bit lately though. And hopefully, with it being a big ESPN gig he'll reign it in and just be a bit more...normal. And the thing is he doesn't need to ham it up. When he's just being natural he's great to listen to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 I think the best version of Sonnen is usually when he's with Helwani, so I see some promise. Helwani has a good knack of guiding Sonnen from serious to schtick, and Helwani usually bounces off it better than most. I think Sonnen knows that Helwani has a clue and doesn't mind pointing out bollocks, which is why Sonnen drops the gimmick most of the time he's on the MMA Hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted May 18, 2018 Share Posted May 18, 2018 What about the MMA Hour? If we're getting 5 hours of Luke Thomas chatting bullshit every week then I'll be giving it a miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 the MMA Hour is continuing, it'll just be under the ESPN banner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 dunno if hes done with Bellator but Jim Edwards is tweeting that Frank Mir will make his ACB debut at a UK show in August (Mir currently commentates for them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted May 18, 2018 Paid Members Share Posted May 18, 2018 that sounds great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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