Matt Hughes and 5 Fighters Who Dana White Should "Chuck Liddell" Into Retirement

In the co-main event of UFC 135, Matt Hughes was knocked out by Josh Koscheck at the end of round 1. 

While basically everyone and their mother expected Hughes to lose his 54th professional fight, some fans held out hope that the former welterweight king could at least be competitive.  

Despite no such luck, Hughes said in the post-fight interview that he would ask the UFC "to put me up on a shelf," but he is not retiring.  

The next day, UFC president Dana White said that he was very confident that Matt Hughes would retire after his recent loss.  

Hughes, already a UFC Hall of Famer, need to call it quits after being knocked out in his past two fights, and losing four of his past seven. 

If Hughes decides otherwise, White may need to "Chuck Liddell" him into retirement, or convince him that the risk is not worth the reward after several devastating losses. 

Here are a few other fighters who could benefit from the Chuck Liddell treatment. 

Tito Ortiz

Did anyone really think "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" was going to avoid this conversation.  

Ortiz, who lost to Chuck Liddell twice in his career, has gone just 1-5-1 in his past seven fights including a huge upset win over Ryan Bader at UFC 132, breathing new life into his fight career. 

Not all that surprisingly, Ortiz lost his next fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 133, and it wasn't close.  

Ortiz took the fight on about a month's notice, so that—coupled with the Bader win—bought him one more fight with the UFC.  

Ortiz takes on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140, in a fight where the loser, at best, will be cut from the company.  

The 14-year fight veteran should make his next bout his final one, regardless of the outcome.  

Wanderlei Silva

Unfortunately folks, that's former Pride star Wanderlei Silva in the accompanying photo.  While Silva was simply a juggernaut in Pride, he is currently 2-6 during his current UFC run.  

Silva is actually 3-9 in his all time UFC career. Perhaps Chael Sonnen's proclamation that "The Axe Murderer" has the worst UFC record of all time may not be that far off. 

While Silva has not lost to any slouches, and beaten a couple of decent fighters in Keith Jardine and Michael Bisping, he has only fought four times since December of 2008.

He has been knocked out in three of his past five losses.  Clearly Silva doesn't have much gas left in the tank, as the injuries and losses have been piling up.

Let's be honest: most fans were more disappointed than pumped up when it was announced that Silva would be replacing an injured Vitor Belfort to take on Cung Le in the main event of UFC 139. 

Win or lose, White of course needs to step in and thank Silva for his contributions to the sport of MMA. Then he needs convince Wanderlei that it's time to hang 'em up.  

Mirko

Yea, that's Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic getting knocked out with a head kick.  How the mighty have fallen. Another absolute stud in Pride, Cro Cop has not looked like the same elite striker in the UFC. 

After debuting with an easy knockout win over Eddie Sanchez, the UFC booked Cro Cop in a fight with Gabriel Gonzaga in a heavyweight title eliminator fight. 

How epic would a Cro Cop/Randy Couture title bout be, right? Wrong.  After losing to Gonzaga in a title eliminator (see attached photo), the Croatian bruiser then lost to Cheick Kongo at UFC 75. 

Since then, Filipovic has gone 3-3 in the premiere MMA organization.  However, wins over Mostapaha Al-Turk (don't pretend you know who he is), Anthony Perosh and Pat Barry should be academic for one of the most accomplished heavyweight MMA fighters of all time.  

Cro Cop has lost every step up in competition he's faced in the UFC, but since he only has two consecutive losses, he still has a fight with Roy Nelson at UFC 137.  

In what looks to be a loser leaves town fight, White needs to commend Cro Cop on the legendary career he's had, but tell him this is the end of the road.  Even in a winning effort.  

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira had a pretty successful run in Pride...hey wait a minute, is there a trend here?  Maybe the refs in Japan really do wear an earpiece. 

Anyway, little Nog is 2-2 in the UFC, being thoroughly dominated by young, high level wrestlers like Ryan Bader and Phil Davis.  

Many fans also feel that Nogueira should have lost his UFC 114 bout with Jason Brillz, but the BJJ ace somehow managed to eek out a split decision. 

Nogueira had a great career, beating guys like Alistair Overeem (twice) and Dan Henderson.

But with one more definitive loss, it seems like it's time for Nogueira to watch the fights from the crowd like everyone else.

Who knows though, Nogueira may come back stronger than ever in his next fight like his brother, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira did against Brendan Schaub at UFC 134. 

Sean Sherk

A former UFC lightweight champion, Sherk has 36 career wins and his only losses have come to Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, and Frankie Edgar. 

Nothing to be ashamed of there.  

However, "The Muscle Shark" has been ridiculously injury prone since his loss to Edgar at UFC 98 in May 2009. 

Sherk has only fought once since then, winning a split decision over Evan Dunham in September of 2010. Not a bad win at all if everyone wasn't in agreement with the fact that Dunham was robbed blind by that judges' decision. 

Arguably a future UFC Hall of Famer, a steroid scandal after his title win is the main thing holding him back. It seems like Sherk's days in the Octagon are numbered.  

White should grant Sherk one more fight. Unless he beats a top contender, it should then be time for the 36-year-old to call it a career.