Written by Scott Swerbinsky

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UFC 115 has come and gone and hopefully so has the career of a legend.

Chuck Liddell is the most famous mixed martial arts fighter of all time. He has had a great career but the time has come for him to hang up the gloves. Four out of his last six fights have ended with him being brutally knocked out. Rich Franklin defeated him last night by first round knockout with what appeared to be a glancing blow.

We have seen a lot of fighters hang on too long way too many times in both boxing and now in mixed martial arts. It’s a sad thing really, but the mentality of a fighter is something very different. UFC President Dana White is a close personal friend of Liddell’s so he can almost have the final say when it comes to Chuck fighting again. At least you would hope White could convince Liddell to hang them up, even if it meant UFC not booking another fight for Liddell.

 

As for the fight itself, Franklin won despite getting his arm broke by a Chuck kick. Liddell was unable to get out of the way of a few big shots and Franklin landed a nice one as Chuck was coming in. He was out before his crumbled body hit the floor of the octagon.

The fight of the night was the Carlos Condit/Rory MacDonald matchup. The first two rounds were back and forth. MacDonald was more aggressive and was securing takedowns but was ineffective from the top position. Condit was landing some shots from the bottom and started to take control in the third round.

The third and final round was simply a beating put on by Condit. MacDonald’s face was a mess, his head lumpy and his eye swollen from elbows and big punches. The ref stopped the fight with nine seconds left in the fight but it could have easily been stopped two minutes prior to that. I was impressed with both guys, Condit for hanging in when he was clearly frustrated and MacDonald for not quitting as he was simply getting destroyed. Both guys have very nice futures ahead of them in the UFC.

Mirko Cro Cop versus Pat Berry was another solid and entertaining battle. In what was mainly a kickboxing fight, it was ended by submission with thirty seconds left in the fight. Cro Cop was landing the better shots most of the night and started to take over late in the match. He stunned Berry and jumped in for the rear naked choke to turn Barry’s lights out.

Full results:

Rich Franklin def. Chuck Liddell via KO (punch) - Round 1, 4:55

Mirko Filipovic def. Pat Barry by submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 3, 4:30

Martin Kampmann def. Paulo Thiago by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27

Ben Rothwell def. Gilbert Yvel by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 29-28)

Carlos Condit def. Rory MacDonald by TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 4:53

Evan Dunham def. Tyson Griffin via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Matt Wiman def. Mac Danzig via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:45

Mario Miranda def. David Loiseau via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:07

James Wilks def. Peter Sobotta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 30-27)

Claude Patrick def. Ricardo Funch via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2, 1:48

Mike Pyle def. Jesse Lennox via technical submission (triangle choke) - Round 3, 4:44

UFC 115 was a great night of mixed martial arts action. It should be the last time we see Chuck Liddell enter the octagon as a fighter. If it was Liddell's final fight it will wrap up an awesome career for the most popular fighter in UFC history.