When The Stars Go Blue

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, Rich "Ace" Franklin. I can actually stop writing here and you'd probably understand.    

These fighters have something quite a bit in common.  They're former champions of their respective weight divisions and dominated during their title reign.  However, they've also lost two of their last three outings inside the octagon and seem to be dreaming they're still in their dominant selves.  Actually Liddell lost already four of his five fights, but who's counting.  They have not been who they were when they were champions, not even close, yet they still seem to believe they can still relive their glory days by recapturing the title they once held for a long time.

For the fans, yeah, who would not want to seem them win championships again?  It will be like watching Rocky multiplied by four.  But personally, I don't think they would not even come close to the top 3 of their divisions.

Watching their past fights, they never actually evolved any further than to what they are.  Liddell's overhand right and legendary sprawl aren't enough anymore, his chin is much more of a play doh than a granite and please cover up Chuck.  Hughes got pretty much stuck to his wrestling.  His strength isn't enough anymore with the likes of Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and Thiago Alves.  Franklin, well, except for his slick armbar escape from Travis Lutter and a well placed kick in Matt Hamill's body, I don't really seem to have interest in watching him further.  Lastly for Tito, well he has lots to prove in his comeback (against Mark Coleman???).    

They were all great champions, no question.  I would call them the early hybrid fighters.  Young fighters looked up to them and chased their skills. But, the young guns caught up and some have even surpassed them by leaps and bounds.  So, if they want the championship, it's time for them to turn things 180 degrees.  It's their time to catch up with the new generation of fighters; the young, the strong, experts in all aspects of the game.  For them to truly believe that they have a shot at the title again, they should leave their previous reigns in the history books and create a new page in their fighting careers.

So what's next for them in the UFC?  I guess we'll just have to wait and see, as they all continue to search for that second grasp at glory.