Despite what former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell told UFC President Dana White after his loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 76, Liddell’s trainer, John Hackleman, says his fighter will not be retiring anytime soon.
Hackleman made the comments during a radio interview with Steve “Mr. Sunshine,” who does a radio show in Las Vegas on FoxSportsRadio1460. The audio of the 15-minute interview is available at mrsunshinevegas.wordpress.com.
After a split-decision loss to Jardine in UFC 76’s main event, White told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports that fighters need a certain hunger to be an elite fighter and “I just didn't see a Chuck Liddell who was as hungry as he used to be.” White also said he felt a retirement was pending.
Nonsensness, said Hackleman.
He specifically mentioned Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as possible opponents for Liddell at UFC 79 in December. Additionally, Hackleman stated that Liddell would be back to training on Monday.
Liddell, who had held the UFC's light heavyweight title since April 2005, suffered a first-round technical knockout to Quinton Jackson at May’s UFC 71 event. With his loss to Jardine, he has back-to-back defeats for the first time in his career.
