Dancing With The UFC Stars (It Had To Happen)

For many people, the world ended when Joe Rogan announced to Chuck Liddell, after his loss to Shogun Rua, that he "was being retired."

The man who helped Chuck become a UFC star, who says he is Chuck's best friend, had decided that the blow to the head that decided the fight was the last one the Iceman would ever take.

Dana White was the picture of genuine concern for his buddy while being interviewed about his unilateral decision, which did not include any input from Chuck himself. He mentioned Chuck's great wealth, his health, and his children in voicing the reasons behind his decision.

Chuck appeared to be bewildered and in a fog during most of the discussion, perhaps due to the head injury, who knows? Chuck didn't have much to say and Dana was doing all of the talking.

Fortunately, this set Chuck up for the chance of a lifetime; the chance to be on "Dancing With The Stars," a very popular hit series with a cast of stars from all manner of entertainment venues.

Initially the he-man sports fans were silent. The show may have been a favorite of their wives and lovers, but few would admit to having been previous fans. As the show progressed, though, it became a guilty pleasure of many previous untapped fan sources. Yes preteens and oldsters were all watching it.

By the time the winner was announced and the Iceman had won his first non-belt award of his lifetime, teenage boys were no longer begging their parents to buy violent war games for their X-boxes, they were begging for dance lessons and old resurrected dance programs of Arthur Murray's School of Dance.

Many changes in society sprang from Chuck Liddell's unprecedented success on the dance floor.

Not only was there the resurgence in Lawrence Welk programs, the old fashioned follow-the-footprints-on-the-floor dance instruction method, and dance lessons for pre-teens, as well as a new UFC program which was released on Spike TV featuring UFC personalities doing different dance routines in weekly competitions.

After seeing the Iceman's shrunken midsection post DWTS, Dana White instituted a new regimen for all fighters in the UFC which was deemed to be superior to the old fashioned beat-the-tire-with-a-sledge-hammer routine that had been featured on so many pre fight training video clips.

Now, beside being quick on their feet, the fighters were showing new rhythms that put GSP's once winning style to shame. By becoming accomplished dancers, the UFC fighters were meringue-ing their way to better health, solid physiques, and graceful moves on and off the dance floor.

Dana's epiphany lead millions to get off the couch and go out dancing on Friday nights and then stay home on Saturdays to watch both fighting and "UFC Does Dancing," on PPV from 6PM until 1PM. Many reports of spontaneous dance contests breaking out in bars were making the headlines across the nation

Instead of simply having "walk-in music" all fights were now conducted to a variety of snippets from different dance styles and judging became expanded to include points for grace, form, interpretation and rhythm, which ended the debate over the time honored, but hated ten point scoring method.

The UFC was making billions as all of the countries in the world sought to have their traditional dances featured on the weekly programs. MMA was no longer considered to be a bloodsport with the result that even New York had finally passed the necessary legislation to allow the sport to take place in Madison Square Garden. The Mayor of New York was actully begging Dana White to have a huge PPV event there for New Year's Eve!

Women's MMA had become such a great hit that contestants in many national beauty pageants were choosing to use it as their talent for the contest.

Ever popular MMA stars such as Georges St-Pierre, Roger Huerta, Brandon Vera, Anderson Silva, and Lyoto Machida branched out into dance studios as well as having traditional MMA gyms in their native countries.

The national economy had an unexpected rebound and everyone involved in the new phenomenon was dancing their way to the bank.

At this point, some readers are saying, "Oh no, Grandma Dee has finally lost it!"

I do want to go on record though, as being the first to predict that the Iceman will win the DWTS contest and begin a new fad in the world of MMA when he does.

So don't act surprised when this all comes to pass, just remember: In MMA, anything is possible!