Liddell: Retire? Me? Who? What?

There’s evidence Chuck Liddell still believes his exit from the sport that made him a very wealthy and happy man is a decision he has the luxury of making. As most observers are aware, though, you don’t retire from fighting: Fighting retires you.

With several stoppage losses in the past three years, Liddell is done and drafted into the next stage of his life. Dana White has sworn he’ll never fight in the Octagon again, and Liddell has vowed he would never compete anyplace else. So what’s left to discuss?

“It's about how I feel and if I want to go back and make a run at a title and how far away that would be,” he told the Star-Tribune over the weekend. “And whatever I think is left in the tank.”

Liddell was last knocked out by an awkward right hand delivered by Rich Franklin, a man who spent the majority of his career as a middleweight and is not known for his one-shot power. As mentioned at the time of the fight, the worst thing for Liddell was to go out there and look good for a few minutes -- which is exactly what happened. The temporary success was going to lead him into a protracted struggle with the issue of walking away. Three months later, that’s the story.

Like all adults, Liddell is entitled to make bad decisions. I would hope and expect that White, trainer John Hackleman and anyone else who has any kind of concern at all for his well-being -- including athletic commissions -- would refuse to enable those decisions. As for Liddell himself: If he has as much respect for MMA as he believes, he should consider honoring the sport’s insistence that it’s his time to go.