Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.The welsh poet Dylan Thomas might have written it in 1952, but it fits for the Winter of the career of Chuck Liddell, mixed martial arts fighting legend, and ultimately, pioneer. Not only was he a zeitgeist for a change in momentum in the sport from underground to mainstream, Liddell also went out not weakened by newly-conceived methods or strategic approaches, nor with a gentle ‘W’ on his record for his last contest against a fall guy.
True to the last, the Iceman went out on his sword, fighting the fight of the Liddell blueprint. Fierce, toe-to-toe, brawl and sprawl, risking it all. The Iceman went out there, and against another legend in Rich Franklin, raged against the dying of the light.
In the full glare of the global media spotlight, he showed he is unchanged. But his body, at 41, has called time. Liddell also helped me understand the changing face of the fighting art, on the half dozen times I interviewed him.
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