Liddell Taking A Year Off

Chuck Liddell claims he's taking a year off to "let my head rest". He goes on to say, "Hopefully my brain can heal over time. The shot last fight is something that normally wouldn't hurt me. I think I need at least some time off from getting hit. I'm going to to take time off sparring then." While I'd love to see Liddell come back and make another run, I'm dubious it'll ever happen. The brain isn't like a shoulder or knee. It doesn't heal itself with time. Once you lose your marbles, you never get them back. There are countless examples of this in boxing where an aging former star takes time off before coming back and getting hammered again. At least he's smart enough to also take time off from sparring. Most people don't realize it, but sparring is dangerous. Any strike to the head causes damage and over the course of a career, fighters take thousands during sparring. For someone like Liddell, who is coming off a series of knockouts, sparring is the last thing his brain needs. If I was him, I'd wear a motorcycle helmet at all times. He could probably get a sponsorship deal with one of the awful MMA t-shirt companies to paint something stupid on it like skulls and Gothic lettering. I wish Liddell the best of luck with this. He's still more exciting to watch than 95% of the other fighters out there. Maybe it's time the UFC creates some "Senior Fights" with the aging stars of the sport. Put them on the weaker cards to drum up interest. In the next five years, you're gonna have a ton of fighters reaching the end of their competitive careers. It would be a good way to let these guys continue to compete without getting their heads torn off by the younger fighters.