Over The Hill? I Call It Undying Fighting Spirit

Columns

Chuck Liddell has become the latest MMA legend whose time in the sports has seemingly expired.  The evolution of the sports, along with the geriatric wear and tear have left him in the dust.

No MMA fan wants to see a legend in the sports risk self-destruction by fighting long past his prime.  Neither do the fans want to see the legend step into the ring or the cage as a shell of his former self, like the bloated Elvis Presley without a shred of his former charisma and virility in his embarrassing series of performance during the 1970s.

Concern for the physical well-being and wholesomeness of legacy thus dictates that fighters, like any other professional athletes, retire after their competitive capacity hits the ceiling.  In Liddell’s case, no one seems more adamant about the retirement than one of his best friends, Dana White.

Liddell’s probable retirement nonetheless leaves room for speculation for his future.  Sure, White has positions in UFC/Zuffa to keep Liddell busy, but if the examples of other aged MMA legends are any indication, will he get the itch to fight again?

Don Frye, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock – they may not have had Randy Couture’s success fighting well into their 40s but these legends have thrown “retirement” out of their lexicon.  Last year, Pat Miletich followed suit with a comeback victory over Thomas Denny in an Adrenaline MMA event, fighting for the second time in a six-year span.

If Liddell is anything like these MMA legends, he may decide to step into the cage again.  Whether or not the MMA world wants to see them in action, the aged legends have understandable motivation to keep fighting.

Fighting is unlike any other form of competition: Perhaps the delirium and adrenaline rush of engaging in the most raw, visceral form of competition makes it uniquely addictive.

Moreover, Liddell, Couture, Miletich, Severn, Frye, and other legends active past their prime have been the pioneers of the sports.  When they embarked on their career, MMA was in its infancy in the US.

Only after years of toiling in obscurity did they finally see the sports emerge from the caged confines of underground circuits.

From the beginning, the allure of fame and inflated bank account endemic in professional sports did not factor into their motivation.  Given the meager financial reward and rigor of training, MMA in its early days weeded out those without the thirst for competition and challenge.

In the course of muscling through competition during the dark days of the sports, they have sublimated fighting into their livelihood.

When fighting is as ingrained as the encoding in their DNA, leaving it behind becomes incredibly difficult.

Involvement in coaching and the media and promotional sides of fighting business keeps them close to the sports; yet, at some point, they must feel the nagging urge to step into the ring or cage again because, after all, what is life without fighting for them?

Call it tenacity or unreasonable stubbornness, but the fighters have the final say in when they hang up the gloves for good.

Some may mock them as bullheaded fools who do not know when to quit.

Yet their singular attachment to fighting also testifies to the integrity and devotion of MMA fighters.  They have borne the torches through MMA’s dormancy and meteoric rise with pure, unadulterated love of fighting.  Even if their heydays are well behind them, their passion for the sports remains undiluted.

Frustrating as it may be to see them overstay their welcome in the ring or cage, we must honor their undying fighting spirit.  They are the living embodiment of the “modern day warrior.”