Chuck Liddell knows fans have expressed concerns for his health, but heâs reluctant to blame fighting for all of his post-retirement issues.
Thereâs no question Liddellâs high-impact 30-fight career has left him banged up and with various injuries, some more obvious than others. One popular point of discussion among fans is the condition of the 56-year-oldâs brain as clips tracking Liddellâs speech changes over the years frequently circulate online.
Liddell directly addressed the controversy speaking to Dominick Cruz on the Love & War podcast, with Liddell attributing much of the change to a neck surgery he underwent following his trilogy bout with longtime rival Tito Ortiz in November 2018.
âItâs hard for me because a lot of peopleâIâve seen people show, like, videos of me before and after,â Liddell said. âBut the problem is I damaged my vocal cords and my neck.
âIt was either from the surgery or after it. I went in, theyâre like, âYou have damaged one of yourâYou have three muscles in there and one of them is kind of not working. So the other two will take over for it. So that changes your voice.ââ
In his prime, Liddell was one of the faces of the UFC, reigning as promotionâs light heavyweight champion from 2005-2007 and compiling a highlight reel of famous knockouts. He was in his fair share of back-and-forth brawls, which appeared to catch up to him later in his career as he was finished with strikes in six of his last seven fights.
However, Liddell insists that there are instances where he has been caught on camera slurring his speech or looking confused and those have more to do with circumstance, than brain injury.
âIâve seen those and theyâve done a couple with me whereâs like Iâm talking to someone and itâs like, dude, really, youâre going to pick this one where Iâm having a conversation with somebody and Iâm like, âWait, hold on, I forgot, um,â and they make that look like, âOh, heâs got a problem with his brain,ââ Liddell said. âBut it is what it is.â
Liddell admitted there are definitely mental challenges when it comes to life after fighting, as many former athletes have mentioned in the past. Specifically, finding an outlet for the energy and focus that was once fully dedicated to preparing for a walk to the octagon.
âI learned that for me, I like hitting the bag and sparring and wrestling, jiu-jitsu, something competitive that way,â Liddell said. âIt helps me stay calm. Itâs the only time in the day my brain shuts off and I just work on beating whoeverâs in front of me. Iâm just working on that. I didnât really realize that until I had three hand surgeries, I didnât get to hit a bag for about a year. That was from a freak accident where a piece of glass bumped up and cut both flexor tendons, just a long story. ⌠It was just crazy.
âSo I had a year where I didnât hit the bag and I realized, âWhy am I so on edge?â And then as soon as I could start hitting the bags again I was like, âOh.â Like, sparring, I couldnât wrestle, I couldnât do any of that. I was like, oh, OK, that release. Shutting your brain off and working on something, that makes everything so much easier.â
pride once spelled it: chack liddell
He might be right. Of course in some of these clips he was drunk or probably coked up so even harder to say itâs CTE related.
I understand the outlet thing. Iâd go nuts if I didnât train one way or another.
Hes perfectly fine
Chuck just needs to get some more two-a-days in, make sure the diet is good, and then sign the contract big boy, sign the contract for Chuck vs Tito IV: The Final Showdown
Good to hear. That means he can go best of five with Tito.
That was a bs decision Chuck lost that fight.
I dont even remember this fight. Busta was fucking awesome.
Its not the sound of his voice that worries me. Its his cadence.
I saw him a video of him talking yesterday and the thought crossed my mind that the way he was talking wasnât because of CTE, because he doesnât sound like other guys Iâve heard, that have CTE.
If you listen to Nam Pham talk, itâs not just the slurring and words running together, itâs also articulation and mouth movement.
Nam talks like a toddler who is just learning to speak. Chuck talks like a guy who is exhausted.
Everyone watching the fight with me thought that Busta clearly won which was funny the way the announcers were hyping up Chuck as a destroyer before the fight started.
Whoever was in his Chuckâs ear that encouraged him to take the third Tito fight was a piece of shit. Dude was clearly not physically able to be fighting at that point. He was getting off balance even throwing a punch. Dude destroyed Tito twice in his prime he had nothing to prove. Really sad fight.
Someone post a video of him speaking recently? Iâm curious how he sounds now that has people talking.