Chuck Liddell recently answered questions in an interview with The Sun regarding a number of subjects related to the sport of mixed martial arts. In the questioning, Liddell was asked about Fedor Emelianenko, and he answered:

"Fedor's someone I want to fight because he's someone I match up well with. He's a ground and pound guy that doesn't have a great shot. He doesn't have a great game plan. I think I could take him. I think I match up well with him. As far as I know he's never knocked anyone out from his feet and I think he'd have a hard time taking me down."

Call me a Fedor “nuthugger” or say that I'm on the Fedor “bandwagon' all you want, but these comments are reckless. Let me break down how I see a Chuck Liddell vs. Fedor Emelianenko matchup just for the sake of an argument.

Stylistically, Liddell's striking game is one of the best in mixed martial arts. His counter punching is devastating, but he is open for huge blows just like any other fighter in the game. His wrestling is considered a valuable asset in helping him maintain his primary gameplan to strike with opponents, but can he stop Fedor Emelianenko's tenacious takedowns?

Liddell's comments regarding Fedor as a “ground and pound guy that doesn't have a great shot” are inaccurate at best. Fedor's shot isn't tough to stop by itself, but it's nearly impossible to stop when coupled with the fact that his powerful haymakers and striking are not only heavy, but very quick for a heavyweight. Liddell would have to deal with not only Fedor's devastating and underrated striking ability, but then try to sprawl a takedown from the explosive Russian's takedown while thinking a strike was incoming. Fedor used this exact strategy against Antonio Nogueira in multiple bouts.

Fedor's gameplan usually revolves around making his opponent's gameplan change completely. His opponents really haven't had an answer, and I doubt Liddell's striking would provide an answer. Once again, I turn to the transitional skillset of Fedor Emelianenko to effectively argue my point. A one-dimensional fighter such as Liddell would simply not last against an effective ground and standup fighter such as Fedor, especially without a good transition game.

Finally, Liddell's assumption that he would be hard to take down has been a time tested quote by multiple fighters. Sylvia said the same thing about Nogueira, and he still went down. If this fight happens, I believe we'd see Liddell on the floor more times than he's ever been in a single fight. Somebody convince me that Liddell's quote really holds water.