FanHouse UFC 97

Four months after his most recent fight, a loss to Shogun Rua at UFC 97, Chuck Liddell is relaxing and enjoying life. But he's not ready to say he's retired.

In an interview Wednesday with FanHouse, Liddell said that he doesn't know if he'll fight again, and he doesn't know when he'll be ready to retire. Liddell wants to determine the future of his career on his own schedule, and he's only going to decide for sure after he gets back in the gym and tests himself again.

Liddell also talked about connecting with the fans, dealing with a Twitter imposter, and his acting career. The full interview is below.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Lessons is a new FanHouse feature in which we ask someone in the MMA world to teach us about one aspect of Brazilian jiu jitsu. Today UFC fighter Krzysztof Soszynski tells us about the kimura.

At UFC 97, Krzysztof Soszynski took Brian Stann to the ground, latched onto his wrist and forced him to tap out with a kimura, a submission hold that puts pressure on the shoulder. If Stann was taken by surprise, he shouldn't have been: It was Soszynski's third straight fight in which he submitted his opponent with a kimura. Below, Soszynski (who will return to the Octagon on May 23 to fight Andre Gusmao at UFC 98) tells us all about his favorite submission move.

If I didn't know any better, I would think that the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, which governs alcohol, racing, gambling and combat sports in the province of Quebec, is doing its very best to ensure that no major mixed martial arts promotion ever holds an event in that province again.

After threatening to cancel UFC 97 due to some last minute rules discrepancies, and now forcing Bellator Fighting Championships to move its May 29 show to Monroe, La., Quebec officials are on the verge of killing off one of the best MMA markets in the world.

What a horrible shame.

While UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva focuses his attention on a light heavyweight showdown against Forrest Griffin, the organization has booked an intriguing 185-pound bout between former contender Nate Marquardt (28-8-2) and Demian Maia (10-0) for UFC 102 in August. Maia confirmed the news on his official Web site late yesterday.

The undefeated Maia was rumored to be next in line to face Silva for the middleweight title, but after Silva's second straight lackluster performance at UFC 97, the UFC decided to book him against fan favorite, Griffin.

After beating Thales Leites to defend his middleweight title at UFC 97, Anderson Silva was widely criticized for generally declining to engage his opponent and spending the final three rounds of the fight simply keeping Leites at bay with a lot of leg kicks.

But was that criticism valid? Greg Jackson, considered by many to be the best coach in MMA, says Silva's style was nothing short of brilliant.

Although most fans and members of the media seem to think we saw Chuck Liddell fight for the final time at UFC 97, some of Liddell's fellow fighters disagree with the conventional wisdom that he's finished.

I spoke with Matt Hughes on Thursday, and he told me he doesn't believe Liddell is done.

"I don't think so," Hughes told me. "Chuck is still dangerous to anybody. Anybody that thinks that if Chuck Liddell hits them they won't go down is wrong. Chuck is a threat to anybody. As a friend I hope he doesn't leave the sport for two reasons: Number one, I like him and I like watching him. Number two, I still think he's good enough to do some serious damage to people."

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has been criticized in recent days for a lackluster showing in his middleweight title defense over Thales Leites at UFC 97, and some fans think it's time for Silva to move up to light heavyweight to take on more challenging opponents.

Silva says he's open to a move up in weight -- but in an interview with FanHouse, he made clear that he doesn't view such a move as permanent. In the Q&A, conducted over e-mail Wednesday, Silva said he doesn't want to fight for the 205-pound title because he wouldn't fight his friend Lyoto Machida, who will challenge champion Rashad Evans for the light heavyweight belt at UFC 98.

Silva also addressed the fight with Leites and the crowd in Montreal booing him Saturday night, and said he'll be ready to return to the Octagon as soon as the UFC asks him to. The full interview is below.

Mixed martial arts fans have harshly criticized UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for his lackluster showing in a unanimous decision victory over Thales Leites at UFC 97.

But Silva's manager, Ed Soares, says he thinks the Silva-Leites fight was just fine -- and that if you have a problem with the way Leites vs. Silva went down on Saturday night, your problem is with the UFC's matchmaking, not with its middleweight champion.

Those were among a number of opinions Soares expressed about the fight in an interview with MMA Junkie.

Anderson Silva's lackluster win over Thales Leites at UFC 97 has dropped him one spot on my latest rankings of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in MMA.

I still consider Affliction heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko the best mixed martial artist in the world, but I've now moved UFC welterweight champion Georges St Pierre into second place, ahead of Silva, who drops down to third. Silva has an impressive 9-0 UFC record, but his two most recent fights have been his two least impressive fights in the Octagon, and I no longer view him as the UFC's best fighter.

My full Top 10 is below.

We're back this week with another MMA podcast, and I'm joined again by Ariel Helwani. The big topic of conversation, of course, is the disappointing performance of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 97, and who we think might give Silva a tough test.

We also talk about the likely retirement of Chuck Liddell, the future of Shogun Rua, and how every weight class in the UFC -- except middleweight -- has a big title fight in the coming months. Listen below.