Chuck Liddell claims he's taking a year off to "let my head rest". He goes on to say, "Hopefully my brain can heal over time. The shot last fight is something that normally wouldn't hurt me. I think I need at least some time off from getting hit. I'm going to to take time off sparring then." While I'd love to see Liddell come back and make another run, I'm dubious it'll ever happen. The brain isn't like a shoulder or knee. It doesn't heal itself with time. Once you lose your marbles, you never get them back. There are countless examples of this in boxing where an aging former star takes time off before coming back and getting hammered again.

At least he's smart enough to also take time off from sparring. Most people don't realize it, but sparring is dangerous. Any strike to the head causes damage and over the course of a career, fighters take thousands during sparring. For someone like Liddell, who is coming off a series of knockouts, sparring is the last thing his brain needs. If I was him, I'd wear a motorcycle helmet at all times. He could probably get a sponsorship deal with one of the awful MMA t-shirt companies to paint something stupid on it like skulls and Gothic lettering.

I wish Liddell the best of luck with this. He's still more exciting to watch than 95% of the other fighters out there. Maybe it's time the UFC creates some "Senior Fights" with the aging stars of the sport. Put them on the weaker cards to drum up interest. In the next five years, you're gonna have a ton of fighters reaching the end of their competitive careers. It would be a good way to let these guys continue to compete without getting their heads torn off by the younger talent.

Ricardo Arona will make his long overdue return to MMA on September 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when he takes on Marvin Eastman. The event is being promoted by a company called Bitetti Combat. I've never heard of them, but GracieMag talks about the event like it's gonna be pretty big. They even invited Big John McCarthy and Renzo Gracie to be referees. I think at this point McCarthy would ref a dogfight, if you invited him. It's too bad his talents are being wasted.

Arona is one of the most polarizing figures in MMA. To some he is a legend, to others a boring wrestler who looks for decisions. I fall somewhere in the middle. I don't think Arona ever got the chance to fully realize his potential. He began fighting in Pride at the age of 23. It was in 2001 when most fighters favored a wrestling approach (lay and pray at its finest hour). Arona had lots of success with wins over Dan Henderson, Murilo Rua, and Wanderlei Silva. He had little reason to evolve as a fighter until he lost three out of four fights between 2005-2007. We never got to see how Arona would have altered his style because he's been out of action since his loss to Sokoudjou in April of 2007. I'm not saying I think he would have dramatically changed. I'm just saying his career path kind of led him to being one-dimensional.

The card also features Glover Teixeira, who apparently is still not allowed in the United States for some reason.

Most problems begin with poor judgment. Tim Sylvia let Monte Cox talk him into fighting Ray Mercer. It was a fight the former UFC Heavyweight Champion should have never even considered. He had nothing to gain from it and now following his embarrassing knockout loss, Sylvia's stock is subterranean. He made a bad decision and created a problem for himself. It usually works this way.

Zuffa has another sort of problem with a different cause. In December, it will be the three year anniversary of their WEC purchase. At the time, it did not seem like a major deal. The WEC was a minor MMA promotion with little fanfare attached to it. Zuffa's biggest move was to bring the 135 and 145 pound weight classes to the forefront. Since they became the focus, the promotion has grown significantly. The lighter fighters are very active in the cage and it makes for some of the best fights you'll see anywhere in the world of MMA. This great idea by Zuffa led to their current problem, which is their biggest WEC stars want to be paid like their UFC brethren.

Urijah Faber has been particularly outspoken about the issue. He recently told MMAWeekly, "I feel like I'm making a pretty good name for myself and I'd like to be compensated for this." It's hard to argue with his logic. Faber is the WEC's biggest star, yet for his recent main event fight with Mike Brown, he only made $35,790 ($25,790 to show plus $10,000 bonus for Fight of the Night). To give you an idea of how low this is, Chris Lytle made $18,000 to show against Kevin Burns at the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale last month. As always, reported salaries are not the actual totals fighters make. For some ridiculous reason, MMA promotions still get away with not releasing the actual salaries. Still, the fact Faber and Lytle are only separated by $7,000 is troubling. Faber is a main event fighter who brings in an audience whenever he fights. Lytle is a journeyman. Their salaries should not be this close.

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When Lorenzo Fertitta joined the UFC full time, many wondered what type of role he intended to carve out for himself. The guesses ranged from, "He's gonna do nothing" to "He's gonna replace Dana White". Instead he's taken the middle road and his work has proven quite beneficial to the company. Fertitta is the cooler head to White's impulsiveness. I previously compared them to Riggs and Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon.

The latest example of Fertitta's work comes by way of a Croatian website (always reliable). According to the site, Fertitta recently flew to Croatia and met with Cro Cop at his house to discuss a new deal with the UFC. The offer included shorter turnarounds between fights, which was the main reason Cro Cop cited for not resigning after UFC 99 last month. It appears Cro Cop liked what he heard and could be headed back to the UFC.

I'm not sure what brought on the UFC's change of heart. I do know ticket sales were not as great as they hoped for their debut in Germany. The late addition of Cro Cop to the card boosted interest. While his victory was tainted by an eye poke, he looked somewhat sharp for a fighter coming off knee surgery. With a proper push from the company, Cro Cop could make the UFC lots of money with the European fans.

According to MMAWeekly, a UFC 103 bout between Mike Switck and Martin Kampmann is close to being finalized. It was believed Swick would face Matt Hughes at the event, but instead he'll get Kampmann. Swick probably isn't too happy about the change. Hughes remains a top contender at 170 lbs, mostly on the strength of his legacy. A win over him would be huge for Swick. A win over Kampmann does not bring the same attention.

I can't say I disagree with the UFC's logic. Swick remains unknown to the casual fan. Until recently, he was not finishing fights. Those are two deathblows when it comes to locking down a UFC title shot. The fight with Kampmann is a step up from his previous two bouts with Jonathan Goulet and Ben Saunders. It's a chance for Swick to separate himself from the middle of the Welterweight pack.

At this point you have St-Pierre, Alves, and Fitch in the top group. They are followed by Koscheck and Hughes. Then in the third (middle) pack it's Swick and Kampmann. That's not how I'd rank them, but it's the reality of the situation. A win by Swick moves him up a notch and into a bout to see if he belongs with St-Pierre/Alves/Fitch.