Thank You, ICE President!

How do you compensate someone who was critical in the building of a billion dollar company and did so with literally his blood, sweat and tears, and then with some more blood? Making him an executive after retiring from fighting is one way. Another way, and more appropriate, would be to give him a small piece of the company AND the aforementioned executive position. Zuffa would never be that generous, we know that, but what Chuck has contributed to the growth and development of the UFC is immeasurable monetarily. It was that HUGE. Remove Chuck Liddell from the history of the UFC and from the sport of mixed martial arts itself and you don't have quite the juggernaut that they've both become, period!

The Iceman is one the very few fighters that has transcended the sport and become a mainstream personality. He was spilling blood, his own and other's, in the Octagon long before Zuffa owned the company or was involved in the sport. When you talk about pioneers in the game, Chuck's mohawked dome is at or near the tip, tip, top of the list. To me, he's right behind Royce Gracie, only because Royce came before him, but has contributed 100x's what Royce has to the company directly. Royce and the Gracie family undoubtedly made a much bigger contribution to the evolution of martial arts as a whole, but Chuck carried the UFC on his shoulders for the better part of a decade. The one time Zuffa let one of their fighters represent them in another promotion, who did they send to Japan to fight in PRIDE? Yup, Chuck! To this day he is by far the most recognized figure in the sport worldwide, bar none.

Sure, Chuck's career ended with a rough stretch of fights, but in his prime and for the bulk of his storied career, he was an absolute beast of a fighter. His chin took a few too many shots, and as any fan of combat sports knows, once you start getting KO'd later on in your career, it becomes a re-occurring problem. If you look at the knockouts Chuck took towards the end, they weren't at the fists of slouches. Shogun is the current champion and arguably a Top 3 pound for pound fighter in the world. Rampage and Rashad both have serious power and are both still in title contention. Rich Franklin is still a very viable fighter at this point. What's amazing is that Chuck was more than holding his own, arguably winning, in all those fights up until getting caught with those shots that had him waking up staring at the lights. Once your chin is done, your chin is done, and if you're smart, so is your career. Chuck is many things, smart being at the top of the list.

At a minimum, Zuffa owed Chuck the front office position they gave him in the company. While it is a sweet gig for him, I still believe they could have done more for the man who was instrumental in building their brand. Hopefully Chuck got one of those "undisclosed" checks as a signing bonus, and if he did, it better have been EIGHT figures. Ten million dollars doesn't begin to quantify what Chuck has done to help build a BILLION dollar company. I'm just sayin'!

Giving Chuck the role and title of Vice President of Business Development is a brilliant move by Zuffa but his actual title should be ICE President. This locks him into the company, keeps the biggest name and biggest figure in the sport attached to them and keeps Chuck from doing any kind of business with the competition. If Chuck decided he wanted to continue fighting, he could have moved on to Strikeforce, or one of the Japanese companies, and commanded top dollar. Strikeforce and Showtime would have emptied their vaults for Chuck. The Iceman fighting live on CBS would draw humongous ratings. If they went the PPV route with Chuck headlining, it would be the first non-UFC card to do a very significant buy rate. This is all hearsay because Zuffa did the smart and justified thing by gluing Chuck to their brand. It only makes sense since he built the brand, a brand that is now enormous. Chuck was the tread around the wheels of the tank that the UFC has become. They have the one guy who walks in any room and is instantly recognized by practically everyone as the face of the sport of mixed martial arts. Chuck is a true celebrity, not just an accomplished, now retired MMA fighter.

As a fan, I am both happy and sad that this day has finally come. I knew it was, but I always hoped Chuck would give us a couple more of his trademark knockouts before hanging up the 4 ounce gloves. Those hopes were unrealistic. He's making the best decision by walking away, a decision that is arguably a little late. Some say Chuck might have tarnished his legacy by overstaying his welcome but I disagree. His welcome wasn't in question, his chin was. Everyone loved seeing Chuck fight, fan or not. It was guaranteed excitement. Chuck Liddell was never in a boring fight, ever. As I already stated, even in the late losses in his career, Chuck was doing what he has always done. He was epitomizing the "budo" mentality that is in all true fighter's hearts and souls. Unfortunately, his heart was tougher than his chin.

On behalf of MMA fans worldwide, I'd like to extend a gigantic THANK YOU to the Iceman, now the Ice President, Chuck Liddell. He's the reason the sport is as big as it is right now and he has provided us with too many incredible fights to mention individually. No doubt, he's got ice in his veins, but it was the blood in his veins that he spilled for us and for the sport that he deserves immense respect and thanks for.

Thank you, Iceman, and all for best to you and yours going forward!