In a recent interview with the website thefightnetwork.com, athletic trainer John Hackleman emphatically replied to certain rumors that his client Chuck Liddell was not planning to bow out from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This strongly worded rebuttal came in the wake of Liddell's loss against Keith Jardine during UFC 76. During the aftermath of the bout, many rumors sprung up in different news outlets that Liddell, also known as the Iceman, had lost his touch and was going to retire from mixed martial arts. They stemmed mainly from comments made by UFC President Dana White during an interview with Yahoo! Sports, which allegedly implied that Liddell's retirement was imminent. During the discussion with White, the UFC official remarked that he no longer could see or feel the certain hunger for victory from Chuck Liddell, the drive to conquer and win which supposedly marked the elite of the competitive circuit's top fighters. After UFC 76, White acknowledged that at 37 years old, Liddell had accomplished quite a bit as a fighter during his lifetime. Added to this was the MMA fighter's history of earning respectable amounts of profit, yet in White's opinion, Liddell wasn't quite the same as the old champion he used to be. The rumors were further augmented when Liddell turned down questions at what his future career plans were after UFC 76, and the fighter said he would have to give things some careful thought. In his counter-argument, Hackleman defended his client and stated that they were speaking to someone who had just lost a battle, who was suffering from depression immediately after a major defeat. The trainer conceded that Liddell was disappointed, but also that it wasn't the right time or place to discuss a fight immediately after it ended, and that they usually reviewed his performance by the time they got back to the gym. Furthermore, Hackleman added that Liddell was not planning to retire, and was considering going up against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. For more resources about UFC: John Hackleman: "Chuck Liddell Not Retiring From UFC" or for the full story of UFC please review this link http://www.buddytv.com
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