Chuck Liddell Training With American Top Team

[SinCitysmallGUY]

Now this is a positive development for the former champ, from Fighters Only:

Chuck Liddell is training with American Top Team in a bid to get back on track after his knockout loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 88.

The news was revealed by his coach John Hackleman, who trains and manages Liddell at The Pit, the gym he represents when he fights.

Hackleman appeared on FightHype to answer questions from fans, one of which was whether Liddell was trying to round his skills out by training with ATT.

"Yeah, you learn something new wherever you train. He's always cross-trained and had people come in. He will definitely learn from Liborio and Matt," replied Hackleman.

A long-time criticism of Liddell has been his over-reliance on the same coaches and training partners.

This is a step in the right direction. Chuck's loss to Keith Jardine stemmed from tactical mistakes, namely not checking leg kicks, he made that could conceivably have been avoided with better game planning.

His losses to Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson on the other hand stemmed from making a fundamental error -- throwing a body shot without setting it up. That's the kind of mistake that is much harder to coach around since its something Chuck knows he shouldn't do and does anyway.

[americanbulldog]

Howard Jackson, ATT's boxing coach and Olympic gold medalist, will have to totally change his striking structure. 

[Bluto]

too late, too old

[Migs]

he needed to change a while back.  But interesting to see what he can do.

[americanbulldog]

too late, too old

Wow, we actually agreed on something.   

[gracie bjj]

ive always said your only as good as your training partners,i believe if chuck learns to sharpen his defense better he will be a major force again.chucks got 3 or 4 more good years left in him,im predicting he will regain the title in early 2010 if he keeps training with ATT

[stone_cold_steve]

I can see him winning some more fights, but he won't be top of the division again.  The competition got way better and allthough I believe he will improve, I'm afraid it won't be at the same pace as the younger competitors.
IMO Evans, Rampage, Forrest and even Wandy are able to beat him. And I think Shogun will gain the Title somewhere in the two comming years.

[Dreadlord]

I agree that he's still a force to be reckoned with.

He needs to start setting things up instead of headhunting. The same problem plagued Tyson in his later years. He was always looking to land that knockout punch and neglected the set up process.

[Dball]

We aren't talking anout training partners here, we are talking about the fact that he continues to drop his left hand to the outside to get leverage for his right, and it leaves him open everytime.  Rampage and Rashad both caught him as a result of it. Can it be rectified now? Who knows,  But it's a fundamental problem, not a matter of heart. If he can seperate the two and learn not to do it, he will be fine.

[americanbulldog]

ive always said your only as good as your training partners,i believe if chuck learns to sharpen his defense better he will be a major force again.chucks got 3 or 4 more good years left in him,im predicting he will regain the title in early 2010 if he keeps training with ATT

I don't think his physical attributes will hold out at age 38-39.  He depends upon the one punch power, something you will have a hard time maintaining with age.  Whereas Randy's game is more of a wear you down approach, Chuck uses wild one punch KOs.  No way he wins back the title. 

[Dball]

  No way he wins back the title. 
[/quote

Agreed.  Add the fact that his psyche is shot right now. Anyone he fights will have a mental edge over him.  And all the gatekeepers of the division have beaten him recently.