Chuck Liddell Returns to MMA: Terrible News or Underrated Move?

Word came down Monday that Chuck Liddell, the former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion and one of the most recognizable fighters of any era, will return to MMA competition.

The 48-year-old Liddell said he was targeting a November date with old nemesis Tito Ortiz, who himself is 43. The bout would occur under the banner of Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.

Liddell then challenged Jon Jones, a fighter 18 years Liddell's junior and generally regarded as the best fighter of all time (he also remains under suspension for the time being).

The Iceman hasn't fought since 2010, and he ended that stretch of his career with three consecutive knockout losses.

As one might expect, the announcement met with some pretty stark reactions on social media and elsewhere. Most of it was negative. 

But is there something the mob is missing? Could this be good for Liddell? For Jones? For star-starved MMA?

There's no question Liddell is one of a tiny handful of fighters who can trade solely on their name, especially at such an advanced age. Will his career take off again, will he take the money and run, or will he just take punishment?

We have three experts on the Bleacher Report MMA team to help unravel these questions, and we're doing it from all angles. Jonathan Snowden, Chad Dundas and Steven Rondina are here, and they have takes. 

Steven Rondina

I've been with Bleacher Report for a while now, and I've done a lot of slideshows about the scariest, most brutal, most shocking knockouts in UFC history. Liddell has been in a lot of them, and because of that, I've watched the last few fights of his UFC career many, many times. Not only do I remember every fight-ending punch, I remember consistently seeing Liddell left on the ground like he had been legitimately killed.

When Liddell got knocked out by Rashad Evans, The Iceman didn't pop up after and tell the ref he was fine. He didn't shake his head and sulk during the reading of the official decision. He didn't tell Joe Rogan that he just got caught and would be back and better than ever before long. 

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

When Liddell got knocked out by Evans, he was left on the ground for three full minutes before staggering out of the cage with the help of his coaches. That scene repeated itself again when Liddell was knocked out by Rich Franklin. And sandwiched between those losses? Another knockout: Liddell was rocked and finished by a light, looping left hand from Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. 

For the most part, I kick back and enjoy the wild ride that is MMA. I don't fret over nonsense like title defenses, the integrity of professional cagefighting and whether something will serve as fodder for MMA's naysayers. 

The only thing I worry about is fighter safety and there were real concerns about Liddell's health eight years ago. I doubt things have improved since.

Jonathan Snowden

We're told that Liddell, at one point the most fearsome light heavyweight to ever grace the UFC Octagon, is too old to compete in the sport he helped put on the map. But the bricks he'd seemingly attached to both his fists and his feet, we're told, are no longer enough to cut it in an ever-evolving sport.

And maybe that's true.  

After all, at 48, Liddell is eight years removed from his last professional fight. It's been 13 years since he dusted the great Randy Couture with a first-round knockout to win UFC gold.

But if Liddell is old, that makes me old too. Old enough, at least, to remember another aged champion who came back to prove doubters wrong.  

George Foreman was 45 years old when he won the world title for a second time. When he beat Michael Moorer for the most prestigious prize in all of combat sports, it had been 21 years since he famously dispatched of the legendary Hall of Famer "Smokin" Joe Frazier. 

Foreman, just like Liddell, was told he couldn't beat younger, faster, more athletic fighters. But power is the last thing to go. And Liddell, like Foreman, has it. 

If he can adjust his game to maximize what he's good at, there's no reason a new, improved Liddell can't surprise people with the gifts he still has. He might not be able to beat Jones—but is there any reason to believe he couldn't bounce Bellator champion Ryan Bader's head off the mat if things fell his way? I wouldn't be so quick to put Liddell on ice just yet.

Chad Dundas

Liddell's return to the cage has been percolating for some time now. Ever since he lost his cushy retirement gig as "Vice President of Business Development" in the UFC's sale to Endeavor, it has seemed inevitable. Are there numerous health and safety reasons why a 48-year-old man who ended his professional career going 1-5 and suffering three straight knockouts should not return to fighting? There are, but I expect all of them will fall on deaf ears as it concerns "The Iceman."

If the last few years in MMA have taught us anything, it's that the old guys can still draw. For whatever reason, the market for the 40-something stars of yesterday appears to be more robust than any sane person might have expected. That means, if Liddell makes good on his promise to take on Tito Ortiz later this year, it will be a profitable effort—for better or worse.

So long as Liddell’s comeback is restricted to fighting fellow retirees in his approximate age bracket, perhaps there's no real harm in it. Let Chuck have his trilogy fight with Ortiz and maybe a tangle with Randy Couture. Those bouts would pull the curious double duty of turning a buck for all involved and give Liddell a real chance to win.

For the love of everything that is holy, however, please keep him away from Jones. A meeting between the previous light heavyweight king and the current one would be both ugly and inadvisable for this elder statesman.