well I guess coming in great shape justified getting another fight (in some peoples eyes) in but this one really should seal the coffin for liddel. he has no punch resistence left although he did start better and showed some versatility with his offense, besides his reflexes, his chin is his achilles heel at this point,. credit to franklin though for fighting a good fight and making it entertaining
Thinking about it, Franklin was probably the least happy he has ever been after a victory; him and Chuck get along well, you just know he didn't enjoy doing what he had to do very much.
Styles make fights. That is something I hear often, and often it rings true. Last night, I thought Liddell's style was better suited to defeat Franklin's. In a way, I was right. Liddell was winning that round until Franklin knocked my pick the **** out. Franklin was sporting a broken arm and was near being down a round when he ended matters. Sometimes, intangibles win fights. That was not the case last night, as Franklin found Chuck's chin to be tangible. I was reminded that styles may make fights, but styles don't always win fights.
Franklin has better boxing skills. Chuck got caught with a shot that wouldn't have affected him the way he did if his left hand was up in proper guard position to block it. To make matters worse, his head was down, and it sure looked like he didn't have much respect for Franklin. I've seen Liddell throw his right hand haymakers with much better left hand positioning to protect himself. Wonder why it all went to the crapper in this fight.
I actually thought until Chuck got knocked out, that the fight was virtually even. I thought Rich was landing more, but Chuck's were a bit more powerful. Great job by Rich getting up after the take down, weathering some big shots, a broken arm and knocking Liddell out!
Any news on how his arm was broken? If it came from blocking a kick or did he fall at a bad position?
That is pretty significant. Overall I thought Chuck was looking good at mid range, wheelhouse of his punches and range wasn't bad, his punches always look very counterable. What looked bad was hen Franklin was able to get in and hit him with those short chipping shots, they actually looked to bother him a lot and they weren't that hard. Looked to me like Chuck was going to catch him and **** him up. He was mixing up those kicks really well, broke Franklins arm with a kick, and is always just one punch away from ending the fight. Props to Franklin for keeping his composure and capitalizing on that opportunity.
Ill agree for the most part. Liddell looked damn good IMO the best Chuck in years just the problem being hes 40 and has zero punch resistance at this point. Chuck threw a couple of head kicks one powerful enough to break Rich's arm, tons of power inside leg kicks which I aint seen from him in MANY years. I thought his timing and handspeed looked decent and early his punches had slighty better technique but I think he rocked Rich and kinda got crazy. Also he took Rich down and seemed to want to try and pass his guard instead of what hes did in that pass where he scores a takedown for points and stands back up. Shame he didnt adjust his style like this in the past but Chuck has nothing to be ashamed of.
Chuck was kicking and he went for the takedown. He fought the gameplan he needed to fight but his chin is now horrible and his sharpness is questionable. He doesn't have the defence to cover up a such a poor chin now. Liddell doesn't get stopped, he gets knocked the **** out. Chuck Liddell is now a highlight reel of ko's.
I could see the remorse in his eyes as he landed two full power rights as Chuck laid spark out on the canvas. Personally I thought the knockout punch was one of the the nastist punches I have ever seen the throne. It busted open chucks upper lip, it seemed to hit just below the nose. and there seemed to be a weird shockwave. If there had been a giant snooker ball behind chucks head you get the feeling it would have flown away really fast but chucks head hardly moved at all
Chuck walked straight into the shot and wide open. Franklin just had to hold his fist there and Chuck would have ko'd himself.
