Dana White Makes it Official: It's Win or Total "Melt Down" for Chuck Liddell

"Earlier today, Dana White made it official—Chuck Liddell must win his upcoming fight or he's done for good in the UFC."

Does that sound familiar?

Dana said something along this same line before Chuck fought Mauricio "Shogun" Rua last year.

Chuck lost to Shogun, so Chuck was "done."

Well, actually, if "done" meant Chuck shouldn't be taking fights in the now Shogun-ruled 205-pound division, then yeah, he was done...

For about a year.

The only other thing he did in that year, besides show up at a few good UFC events, was do Dancing With The Stars and take his spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Then, he agreed to do the soon-to-be-finished 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Tito Ortiz.

Looks like Dana really couldn't keep Chuck from coming back after all.

Now, it's a year later, and Dana's got Chuck facing Rich Franklin, who's filling in for a sidelined Ortiz.

The only difference between last year and this year, besides the opponent, is that this time, Dana's not kidding.

Earlier today, Fighters Only Magazine reported that Dana made it official—if Chuck Liddell does not beat Rich Franklin at UFC 115 in Vancouver, Chuck Liddell's career could come to a conclusion in front of a fired-up Canadian crowd.

Dana is quoted in the article as saying:

"Yes [a loss at UFC 115 would be the end of Chuck Liddell's career], and I think he will say the same thing. But let me tell you what the difference is—the difference before, when I wanted him retired, was that he wasn't doing the right thing. He was out partying every night and doing the wrong thing not the right thing.  He wasn't living the life of a professional athlete...He and I sat down and talked and I will tell you what, he has kept his word. He has been phenomenal shape since the beginning of The Ultimate Fighter and it will be interesting to see how he does. Because Rick Franklin is tough, he is no joke. He had that war with Dan Henderson that many people believe he won, he had the war with Wanderlei Silva—he has fought all the best in the world."

You've got that right, Dana. Rich is a tough guy.

More than just Henderson and Wanderlei, but Anderson, Vitor, the late Evan Tanner, Lyoto Machida, Ken Shamrock, and soon-to-be-two-time Ultimate Finale headliner Matt "The Hammer" Hamill.

The man has experience facing not only the best of each division, but legends of the sport as well.

Chuck's record ain't too shabby either, what with guys like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Jeremy Horn, and also a fight of his own with Wanderlei Silva on his resume.

Is Chuck Liddell seriously going to have no choice but to hang up the gloves for good?

Going by what has happened in the last year, maybe not.

Dana said he wanted Chuck to hang them up if he lost to Shogun, but then he said "we'll see what happens" after Liddell's induction into the UFC Hall of Fame at UFC 101.

From what I can see out of my own two eyes now, though, I have to think Dana now believes that a brand new "Iceman" is coming out to play against "Ace."

I don't know for a fact that this is a brand new Chuck, I don't know Chuck personally.

What I do know is that, like UFCs 99, 102, and 109 recently, this clash of two legendary fighters could prove to be as exciting as any fight that we'll ever see in the UFC.

Should Franklin take down Chuck? If so, he better stay on top of Chuck, who many have often described as a "wrestler in reverse."

Take the man down, and the man will pop right back up.

Franklin himself is a brown belt in BJJ, whereas Chuck is a purple belt. This tells me that Franklin could have the better ground game, but we'll only know if the fight stays on the ground all throughout.

As far as stand-up game is concerned, it's tough to touch these two on that aspect, unless you happen to be one of the guys that's knocked one or both of them out. On that aspect, I expect that "stalemate" might be an appropriate term, as Rich's stand-up is pretty good.

If you don't know about Chuck's stand-up, check it out online. It's a methodical style of stand-up but it's given him the distinction of being one of MMA's most lethal knockout artists.

Is Saturday night Ace's night?

Is Saturday night Liddell's night?

We'll know when Saturday night comes.

For Chuck's sake, though, Saturday night better belong to The Iceman.