"Chuck Liddell is stupid rich. Chuck Liddell is done. He’s got nothing left to prove. He’s the most famous guy on Earth. I love him like a fucking brother and I don’t want to see him get hurt. There is no reason for it. He’s fucking 40 years old man. These guys that are fighting now are young, explosive, fast fucking kids who are well rounded mixed martial artists. There’s no fucking reason for Chuck Liddell to be out there at 40 years old still fighting. I don’t want to make a fucking nickel off that ever. Believe me, it will be a fucking war if he tries not to retire, believe me. I love him. He helped me build this business. We started when he was making five hundred and five hundred. And we had the dream of him becoming a big star and winning the title and making all kinds of money. We did it all man. We fucking did it all. We did it. We did it. It’s fucking over. He’s 40 years old, it is over. It was amazing that he was able to fight until he was 40. That’s what a bad motherfucker he was. He has nothing to prove to anybody, period. It’s over. We did everything that we set out to do. It has been an amazing run, its been fun. We did it together, we stayed loyal to each other the whole time and we did everything that we hoped to do and now its over. He can do it financially. And plus, I’m going to bring him into the organization in some other way and he’s still going to make money. He’s been loyal to me and I’ve been loyal to him and that’s not going to change now that he’s retiring. He’ll always be a part of the organization. He’ll take on another role, he’ll still make money and he’ll be with me until the day we die.... I always say is that I’ve built this business using the blueprint of boxing, what not to do. We know that you shouldn’t be fighting past your prime, you know?"
-- UFC President Dana White provides more context via InsideFighting.com on his reasons for essentially forcing former light heavyweight champion and his good friend, Chuck Liddell, into retirement after his most recent loss (his fourth in his last five appearances) to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 97: "Redemption" this past weekend. Liddell skirted the retirement talk as best he could after the bout, saying he needed a few drinks and a few days to come to a final decision. His trainer, John Hackleman, stated that Liddell would decide "in the next week" or so. The plot thickens ...
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