Win or lose, Liddell enjoys loyal fan base

Chuck Liddell's fighting career is sort of like that lengthy play with one plot layered on top of the next. He has reached that point in the production most professional athletes never realize, where winning is considered secondary for those who pay to see him strike. Where popularity trumps results. Where status overrides record.

"The only guy you have really seen at that level -- where he can lose and still draw great crowds -- is Oscar De La Hoya in boxing," Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said. "But that's the thing about our sport: Everyone loses."

Not everyone is Liddell.

And yet the fact he has lost consecutive fights entering tonight's light heavyweight bout against Wanderlei Silva in a UFC 79 co-main event at Mandalay Bay Events Center is insignificant to those who have awaited this matchup for years. Silva, who once dominated the middleweight division in Pride Fighting Championships, also has dropped his last two bouts.

None of it matters. Not that four of those combined recent losses have come by knockout. Not that this fight would have been considered arguably mixed martial arts' all-time greatest matchup two years ago.

It's like giving NFL fans a chance to finally see what might have happened if the Vikings had played the Broncos in that 1998 Super Bowl or college basketball fans a glimpse of how Kentucky and Arizona might have played out in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

That's one of the more appealing components about MMA, the idea that recent outcomes mean nothing to fans who desire only to watch specific names face one another.

In this area, no one receives a higher level of tolerance than Liddell. More than anyone, he delivered UFC into the conscience of mainstream sports fans. His was the Mohawk on the cover of national magazines and the voice heard on national talk shows and the one chosen to torment Johnny Drama on the HBO series "Entourage."

For every nightclub Liddell was photographed in over the years -- and there have been more than the number of links on your average "Rampage" Jackson chain -- the celebrity of UFC grew.

The comparison to De La Hoya is not a stretch. Think also of Hulk Hogan, a real-life Mitchell Report who might seem days short of 90 but whose fame among wrestling fans is unswerving.

Liddell owns that level of devotion from those who faithfully follow his sport, even at 38 and coming off one loss in which he made an amateur mistake and surrendered his title when caught by Jackson inside two minutes at UFC 71 and then appeared unmotivated in dropping a split decision to Keith Jardine in September.

How many more losses can Liddell suffer before all that allegiance begins to diminish?

Is there such a number?

"If he loses (tonight), I'll talk to him first as a friend, and whatever happens, he'll let me know what he wants to do with the rest of his career," White said. "Chuck is a competitor, but he's not a guy who won't know when it's time to stop fighting.

"There are guys in this business I can't wait to 'til they are done, but not (Liddell). It wouldn't shock me one bit if he came all the way back to be (light heavyweight) champion again."

There is obvious UFC precedent with 44-year-old Randy Couture, who came out of retirement to win the heavyweight title after being inducted into his sport's Hall of Fame. This isn't as if Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s record eventually had a number other than zero in the loss column, where the perception of one's overall career -- however memorable -- forever can be altered on any specific outcome.

But this is certain: A win against Silva would draw Liddell closer to another title shot, while a loss would only strengthen the claims he should at least consider retiring instead of trying to continue making his way back up a UFC food chain in the weight class that includes the deepest field. Not that any of it concerns those who matter most -- those who purchase tickets and pay-per-view packages.

"The fact so many people want to see me fight is great, but it's not why I do this," Liddell said. "I want the title back. I still feel that I'm the best fighter in the world. I understand the comparison to someone like (De La Hoya). People know when they pay to see me, I'm coming to swing and it's going to be exciting.

"Knowing when to (retire) is one step, and accepting the idea that I shouldn't be doing this any more is another. I'm nowhere near that point right now. I'd like to end this thing on a five- or six-fight win streak.

"I've still got it. I'm still wearing out much younger kids in training, kids who are doing well in MMA. I'm still OK."

Regardless, win or lose, fans will cheer him. It's a role most athletes never get to play.

Ed Graney's column is published Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.