The Short List: Fighters who hung on too long

For too long, our writers’ hyper-specific arguments have been confined to the private corridors of the Internet. Welcome to The Short List, where we take their instant message bickerings, add a little polish, and make them public. Today: Following UFC President Dana White’s plea for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to retire, we talk about the fighters who probably should have hung up their gloves a lot sooner than they did.

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1. Chuck Liddell, because it was over long before it was over

Steven Marrocco: This is a tough one to write because Chuck Liddell was one of the guys who really got me excited about the sport before I started working as a reporter. I don’t think I’m alone in that respect – can you think of another UFC star that burned as bright as he did during his heyday? Liddell (21-8) was a big part of bringing the promotion to a new level of visibility, and he was the closest thing to a crossover star, something we’re seeing less and less of these days, it seems.

Watching “The Iceman” was pretty close to guaranteed entertainment for the violence his fights promised. Whoever he faced, you just knew that at some point, Chuckie would corner his prey and bludgeon them with those looping hooks.  Another clip for the highlight reel. That is, until he started turning up on the wrong end of them.

It’s hard to find a more prominent example in the UFC of a fighter who traded on his ability to sustain punishment and then fell fast when that failed him. We got a glimpse of it when Liddell lost his title to Quinton Jackson, and his brutal knockout to Rashad Evans seemed to be a catalyst for an implosion that saw him concussed in subsequent fights against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Rich Franklin.

Liddell officially retired in December 2010, six months after getting knocked out by Franklin, but the gap between his decline and final realization of career mortality was tough to watch. Liddell really didn’t want to hang up his gloves, and fought UFC President Dana White on the idea probably longer than he should have. Ultimately, it was his family that convinced him to stop, but particularly in those last few fights, you couldn’t help wondering whether he was putting his long-term health at risk. Sadly, we might not know the answer to that question for several more years.

2. B.J. Penn, because there’s nothing left to prove, and no reason to get beat up trying to prove it

Ben Fowlkes: Yeah, I went there. Nothing in the rules of this thing says I can’t choose a fighter who’s still hanging on, right? And while I was tempted to go with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, it seemed a little too obvious (and obvious is what I went with last time). Maybe it’s all the “TUF” promos I sat through on Wednesday night, but a part of me still can’t believe that B.J. Penn is insisting upon returning to the cage. The man is 35 years old, and the last time he looked really good in a fight was when he knocked out Matt Hughes (another guy who held on slightly too long) in 2010. Since then he’s been a victim of his own wavering dedication to the sport, gamely suffering through one-sided beatings and gradually diminishing returns.

And this, more than anything, is my concern with Penn. He’s not like some of the other old-timers, who reach a certain point where their chin is shot and they get laid out by a stiff breeze. He’s still as tough as Momma Marrocco’s meatloaf, even when he’s also in roughly the same physical shape. But in a way, that’s almost worse. Penn (16-9-2 MMA, 12-5-1 UFC) won’t go down with one big punch, and his pride won’t let him fold up and take the easy way out even when the situation is clearly hopeless. Just look at his last two fights, first against Nick Diaz and then against Rory MacDonald. He got the plasma beat out of him for a combined 30 minutes, and for what?

To me, that’s the question that Penn can’t answer, and it’s what tells us that he really ought to be done. He’s a legend of the sport, a UFC champion in two different weight classes, and now he’s coming back for a “TUF” coaching gig and a third fight with Frankie Edgar, who already beat him twice? Why? He’s got nothing left to prove in this sport. He’s 1-4-1 in his last six bouts, and he’s too tough and stubborn for his own good. The only thing left for him here is another beating or two, all for paychecks he doesn’t need and respect he banked a long time ago. It ain’t worth it, Baby Jay.

3. Gary Goodridge, because it doesn’t get much worse

Mike Bohn: Gary Goodridge (23-23-1) shared the ring or cage with some of the sport’s most famous names including Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Gegard Mousasi during his 14 year run in MMA and kickboxing. But sadly, this story doesn’t have a happy ending.

The 48-year-old is now dealing with dementia and was diagnosed with early-onset CTE after nearly 100 combat sports match and far too many blows to the head. His quality of life will never be the same as it once was, and that’s because he held on for far too long. (Editor’s note: At the moment, CTE can only definitively be diagnosed post-mortem.)

Goodridge closed out his MMA career in 2010 on an eight-fight losing streak, the last four of which were all by knockout. That’s a disturbing run, but what makes things even worse is that figure doesn’t include the end of his kickboxing career, which featured a 13-fight winless drought with six knockout losses.

Even though it was clear at the tail end of his career that Goodridge had absorbed a tremendous amount of brain damage, promoters continued to pay him to show up and fight with little concern for his physical or mental well-being. That’s an extremely unfortunate truth, but one that’s a reality in the world of MMA and combat sports in general.