ON TRACK, LIDDELL WANTS HIS TITLE BACK

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder Chuck Liddell solidified his place in mixed martial arts history on Dec. 29 when he defeated long-time rival and former Pride Fighting Championships middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79: Nemesis in Las Vegas.

"It's great to get back on the winning track, getting my hand raised," Liddell told MMAWeekly.com.

Coming off back-to-back losses heading into the fight, many questioned if he still had what it takes to compete on MMA's highest level. Changes in preparation, both mentally and physically, showed in his performance.

"I think I changed a little bit of the intensity in the room, and kind of getting back to being a mixed martial artist. You know, mixing everything in and not just being a striker," commented the 38-year-old about his training.

Liddell was able to secure two takedowns against Silva and attempted three. We hadn't seen him take anyone down since his match with Alistair Overeem in August of 2003.

Discussing the takedowns, he explained, "I definitely wanted to work them in there sometime during the fight and keep him off balance a little bit."

Liddell was able to utilize his reach advantage and keep Silva at the end of his punches throughout the fight, something he does extremely well.

"I always try to use that advantage," he stated. "I've got pretty long arms for my height and always got a good reach for my size and weight class, so I've got to use that as much as possible.

"It just kind of works in the way I fight. There was no extra plan for it, but that's just kind of how I do things."

Silva also likes to trade from the outside, but is probably more devastating and dangerous from the clinch position where we've seen him finish current UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson twice. The one time Liddell and Silva clinched in the bout, Liddell did the damage with two elbow strikes.

"I thought he would have tried to clinch more," Liddell reflected. "But I'm also decent in the clinch, and I throw good elbows in there when I gain that position, so I'm real comfortable there."

In round two, the former UFC champ hit the canvas twice. The first one was a slip, but the second time Liddell went down appeared to be caused by a punch. He agreed and disagreed, saying, "It was a slip. It was more getting hit while I was moving in an odd way and slipped. I just had a couple of slips in that round."

Along with the subtle changes in training, Liddell sought out motivational speaker Tony Robbins to assist in focusing for the bout.

He commented, "It was really good. . . I think (working with Robbins) really did help me get better and focus on just being in the moment of the fight. I'm not worried about anything else."

Refocused and motivated, Liddell expects a big year in 2008.

"I'm back. I'm coming after my title, and hopefully get a shot at that some time in 2008."

Asked about a rematch with Wanderlei Silva, and if the saga is over, Liddell responded, "I'm going after my title. I want to get the title back. If people want to see a rematch with us after that, then yeah. Sure."

source:http://www.mmaweekly.com/

as great and epic as his win over Silva was, I don't see Chuck getting a fight with Rampage for awhile. My reasons are the following.

He lost to Keith Jardine. Jardine isn't what I would call a top fighter. Houston Alexander beat Keith Jardine. So I feel Chuck Should be Houston Alexander and Thiago Silva, since he beat Alexander. The Jardine fight I feel really knocked him down, rakning wise, so he needs to fight back up to the top again.

I would like to see Stephan Bonnar get a challenge fight with Alexander or better,...it has been quite awhile since Stephan has had to test himself,..he blew past Mike Nipples and Eric Schaeffer and is scheduled for a fight with Matt Hammil. I think Hammil is a formidible opponent but Bonnar is always fighting fighters below him, he needs a chance at actually advancing and not beating gimme fighters.

I think a rematch with Jardine is the logical next move,...he needs to answer that question mark and then move on. If he fought Jardine like he did Wandy he would of hurt Jardine BAD!!

fuck yeah!! i'd like to see it. if liddell charges through those leg kicks like he did against wandy, jardine's going to have a short night.

Chuck on the attack is a hell of a lot better fighter than counter puncher Chuck,...Liddell came alive in that fight against Wandy and he never showed a sence of urgency in the Jardine fight and just flat out ran out of time.

JoeDaddy wrote:

Just watched a Video of Liddell he wants Jardine says he was not himself that fight and wants to avenge the loss! Also said if he would have lost to Silva he would have called it a career!

Does this mean he's going all out? If he loses to Jardine again. does he retire? If he beats Jardine but loses to Rua, does he retire?

DennisN wrote:

JoeDaddy wrote:

Just watched a Video of Liddell he wants Jardine says he was not himself that fight and wants to avenge the loss! Also said if he would have lost to Silva he would have called it a career!

Does this mean he's going all out? If he loses to Jardine again. does he retire? If he beats Jardine but loses to Rua, does he retire?

if shogun fights like the pride shogun, we shall see chuck go down.

If Chuck fights Shogun I will bet on Chuck,...end of story

Andy wrote:

If Chuck fights Shogun I will bet on Chuck,...end of story

I'm a gambling man. I'll either be rich or broker than I already am this year. I'mma bet money on Crocop, Shogun, Big Nog, and Rampage everytime they fight. Only fight I will not bet on as of now, is silva vs hendo. reason being, I have no clue who the hell will win.