Chuck Liddell WIll Have a Better Year In 2009

(Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)

There is no beating around the bush. Former light-heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell had one hell of a terrible year last year, including the loss of his belt to Quinton Jackson, a loss to Keith Jardine, and a very nasty knockout loss to current Light Heavyweight champion Rashad Evans.

Chuck has a chance to start out strong in 2009 with his fight at UFC 97 Redemption. He will be fighting Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Rua is 17-3 and very good in Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu. It is also known that he has a great deal of strength.

So the question comes back up: Will The "Iceman" Chuck Liddell have a better year? Yes. He lost the belt to Jackson in their last fight, but I think he was just a little bit discouraged in his fight against Keith Jardine. Think about it...he went a long time as champion in which he had not lost a fight in a good deal of time.

So, after losing his belt, a little bit of his self-esteem went down. He probably got down on himself and didn't fight the way he should have against Jardine.

Chuck lost a good fight to Evans fair and square, and a lot of people say "Oh, Chuck's getting old, and he needs to hang up the gloves." I believe Chuck will have a better year. I think the KO loss to Evans woke him up and the old Iceman will be back.

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