UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell shuts down fears of brain problems amid speech concerns

Chuck Liddell has heard from fans who are worried about a change in his speech, but the UFC Hall of Famer claims it isn’t what some fear.

Liddell had a decorated fighting career, but he didn’t walk away from the sport of MMA unscathed. “The Iceman” was knocked out seven times, and his last few fights were particularly brutal. He suffered knockout losses to Rashad Evans, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and Rich Franklin before initially retiring.

“The Iceman” decided to end his retirement eight years later to face his longtime rival Tito Ortiz. Liddell was knocked out by “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” in the opening frame.

In a chat with Dominick Cruz on the “Love & War” podcast, Liddell said that a damaged neck and vocal cords are to blame for changes to his speech (via MMAFighting).

“It’s hard for me because a lot of people—I’ve seen people show, like, videos of me before and after,” Liddell said. “But the problem is I damaged my vocal cords and my neck.

“It was either from the surgery or after it. I went in, they’re like, ‘You have damaged one of your—You have three muscles in there and one of them is kind of not working. So the other two will take over for it. So that changes your voice.’”

Liddell also criticized social media accounts that compile clips of him speaking to make it seem like there is an issue with his brain.