Key Takeaways
- The UFC is growing rapidly in North America, becoming one of the most popular sports on the continent.
- Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell sat down with RG to discuss the state of the company.
- Liddell believes the UFC talent pool is drastically larger now than it was when he was fighting.
Chuck Liddell speaks on the state of today's UFC (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Chuck Liddell knows all about being a top fighter in the UFC.
The former Light Heavyweight Champion was arguably the face of the UFC when it became a mainstream sport in 2005. The debut of "The Ultimate Fighter" TV series on cable TV combined with Liddell's emergence as the champion in the early half of 2005 led to UFC becoming a staple of American sports. Fast forward 20 years later and UFC is arguably one of the four most popular sports entities in America, along with the NFL, NBA and MLB.
The UFC has become a global juggernaut and they're currently in the midst of a five-year, $1.5 billion deal with ESPN. When Liddell won the Light Heavyweight Title and "The Ultimate Fighter" debuted on TV, UFC was holding just eight PPV events a year. When he debuted in the company in 1998, they held just three PPV events during the calendar year.
The company now holds around 40 events per year. Liddell mentions the obvious difference is the number of events held per year, but says the fighters now are better than back in his day. The UFC Hall of Famer retired in 2010.
"Back then, every fight on the card at that time would have been probably at least a fight night, Saturday night event," says Liddell in a one-on-one interview with RG. "There's what 45 UFC's a year with 12-to-14 fights on. There's great fighters out now. I think guys are getting better and better. We were just trying to figure out how you can train back in the day."
There are top fighters spread out through all weight divisions, with eight weight classes for males and four for female fighters. It's also worth noting that most of today's fighters are well-seasoned and well-trained long before even making their debuts in the UFC. That wasn't the case for much of Liddell's generation, where they were just learning how to mix different mixed martial arts into the Octagon.
Most of the top fighters when the 55-year-old was at his peak were in the light heavyweight division such as Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture. The top fighters are now spread out through all weight classes.
"When we were coming in, how do you mix wrestling and jiu-jitsu and striking and still not get killed before the fight," says Liddell. "Trying to mix anything together now, how you put it together, and how you have guys come in from the get-go with the coach, mixing everything and they have nutritionists and strength coaches, but it took a little awhile."
The fighters now are obviously more educated and smarter than they were 20 years prior. But one of the selling points of the UFC and many of their main event matches from two decades ago were the knockouts and the non-stop action. Liddell himself was known for his aggressive striking ability, rarely relying on his defensive acumen to win fights.
When asked about that, Liddell says he's heard of that theory and offers why that may be the case. He once again stresses there's a lot of "great fighters" out there.
"I've heard that a little bit, I don't pay too much attention on who they decide to fight and what they do" says Liddell. "But there are guys who are doing just enough to win, not trying to commit to fighting. I think it's kind of going back to people realize that you finish fights, you'll be more famous, make more money, whatever motivates you, so that people kind of move back towards finishing fights. There are very great technical guys out there now. There's a lot of great fighters out there. I think some of the judging that still needs work, it always seems to need work."
While some fans and observers complain over the lack of a main star — in other words, no one on the level of a Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey — Liddell says there's "so many guys" that can fill that void because there's a lot of good fighters now.
"There's just so many guys that can fill that shoe," says Liddell. "There are so many great fighters out there. You have to do more to stand out like that (these days). There are so many great fighters, just a pure fight to him. You want to watch fights; I like to go out and watch the guys fight. There's so many guys who can fill those shoes. They're exciting, they're good fighters, so it's tough to stand out, and be a full package and captivate everybody."
Liddell says as far as someone developing into the next McGregor, Rousey or face of the UFC, that'll happen as "they come."
"I don't know if they necessarily need it," says Liddell when asked if the UFC needs another face. "But it's one of those things that will happen as they come."
