Chuck Liddell Sounds Like a Man Who Wants to Fight

The last time I talked to Chuck Liddell, in August, he wasn't ready to say whether he would retire from the UFC. Two months later, he still isn't ready -- but I got the sense then, and I still get the sense from a TV interview he gave Monday, that he's itching to get back into the Octagon. Video below.



Liddell said that after he's done on this season of Dancing With the Stars, he anticipates talking to UFC President Dana White about a return to the UFC -- even though White has said he wants Liddell to retire.

"it's not completely up to him," Liddell said. "We're going to have a talk and we're going to argue about it. We'll figure it out. I still think I have something left. If he can convince me I don't, maybe I'll retire. And if he can't, maybe I can convince him that I've still got something left and I want to fight."

If it were just up to Liddell, it sounds like he'd be getting ready for an upcoming fight -- he sounds like he still has the itch to compete and still believes he has the ability to compete at a high level, even though he's 1-4 in his last five fights.

So will White relent and agree to promote another Liddell fight? Ultimately, White is a businessman who knows that Liddell is still a big draw -- maybe bigger than ever, as he's currently reaching a big new audience on Dancing With the Stars. I'll be surprised if we don't see Liddell in the Octagon in 2010.