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UFC has plans for Liddell after retirement

Dann Stupp is founder and editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, a content-partner site of Yahoo! Sports. For daily MMA and UFC news, visit www.mmajunkie.com.

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By Dann Stupp, Contributing Writer Updated 10:13 PM Sunday, April 19, 2009

The big news coming out of UFC 97 – aside from Anderson Silva’s bizarre and disappointing decision victory over Thales Leites in the April 18 main event – was the retirement of MMA legend Chuck Liddell.

Liddell suffered a first-round TKO loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the co-main event of UFC 97, which took place in front of a North American MMA record crowd of 21,451.

Once considered the world’s most dominant fighter, former UFC champ Liddell (21-7 MMA, 16-6 UFC) concluded his career with just one victory in his final five fights.

However, while a truly storied career ends, another one is only beginning.

Soon after confirming Liddell’s retirement after UFC 97, Dana White, president of the UFC, confirmed the fighter will remain with the organization in an official employee capacity. And don’t expect it to be a mere ceremonial gig.

“He’s not just going to get a paycheck,” White told the Dayton Daily News. “I want him to play a role in this [company] and actually come in and work and do something. I’m going to give him a real job.”

The Mohawk-wearing, head-tattooed professional butt-kicker doesn’t exactly instill visions of Corporate America, but with his international popularity and notoriety, Liddell could do some real good in helping White and UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner stump for legislation in markets such as New York and Massachusetts, which currently don’t regulate the sport.

White hinted at some international projects, as well.

“I think he’d be great to go out there to talk to legislators and go into these other countries and help us get these [shows] open,” White said.

But perhaps the role Liddell is best suited is the one he and White have yet to discuss publicly. Following a heavily criticized UFC 97 title defense, Silva, the UFC’s middleweight champion and arguably the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter, was confronted by reporters who wanted to know how such a dominant fighter could put in such a lackadaisical performance.

Liddell, a true “company guy” who’s never mentioned a single gripe with his employers, quickly came to Silva’s side. He chastised one reporter’s assessment of the fight and demanded someone ask a better question.

Sure, it made the media’s job more difficult. But a beleaguered fighter knew one of the sport’s greats had his back, which surely took some of the sting out of the questions.

“We’ll see,” White said. “There’s a lot Chuck can do for us. He’ll always be a part of the UFC.”

Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, a content-partner site of Yahoo! Sports. For the latest MMA news and rumors, go to www.mmajunkie.com.

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