We’ll get that Chuck Liddell match eventually. The latest attempt to bring “The Iceman” back to the octagon will culminate at UFC 88 on Sept. 6, when Liddell and Rashad Evans are scheduled to meet in the main event at Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

This fight was originally supposed to take place at UFC 85. Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua were going to meet, but Evans stepped in for the injured Rua, and then Liddell tore a hamstring. UFC officials scrapped the whole fight at that point.

If things go as planned this time, this will be the first fight of 2008 for both men. Odds had yet to be posted at press time; the popular Liddell figures to be the favorite, but Evans has yet to lose a fight in his MMA career. The winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 series is 11-0-1 with a win over Michael Bisping and a draw against Tito Ortiz.

Fight fans are looking forward to this Saturday’s finals for UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest“. Amir Sadollah and C.B. Dollaway will square off in the championship match at The Pearl in Las Vegas; Dollaway is the favorite at –160, although he’s lucky even to be in Saturday’s fight. Sadollah upset Dollaway in the semis, but Jesse Taylor lost his spot in the finals after getting drunk and disorderly outside the Palace Station.

UFC will serve up Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove in the main event. Tanner is a heavy –200 chalk even though he hasn’t won a fight since 2006. The former Middleweight champion came out of semi-retirement to sign a four-bout deal with UFC; his return in March was a losing proposition at the hands (and knees) of Yushin Okami. Grove is also trying to get back into the win column after consecutive losses to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.

Every athlete’s career has a beginning, a middle and an end. Tito Ortiz looks like he’s close to the end now.

Ortiz was the biggest name in MMA as recently as two years ago. Then he lost a chance to regain the light heavyweight championship versus Chuck Liddell, drew Rashad Evans, and lost to Lyoto Machida last month at UFC 84. By press time, Ortiz had fallen out of the Top 10 light heavyweights in the world according to the Sherdog rankings.

The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” still has plenty of fight in him at age 33. But you can read the future on the T-shirts Ortiz wears to the octagon; against Machida, the shirt read “I Did It My Way.” This past week, Ortiz claimed in an interview with Maxim that UFC prez Dana White “made the biggest mistake of his career” by letting Ortiz “get away.” Then again, White’s career has yet to peak.

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Is Chuck’s latest injury the last straw?

We all love to see the athletes we admire age gracefully and pick the right moment to retire from their chosen sport. It’s entirely unfair to the athletes themselves, of course. And the pressure to retire sooner rather than later is magnified in combat sports. You can only take so much punishment.

Chuck Liddell’s career looked in grave danger of collapse after he lost to both Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Keith Jardine. Instead, “The Iceman” showed he could still deliver at age 38 when he beat Wanderlei Silva last December.

His next fight will be for big money. It was supposed to be this Saturday in London versus Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but both fighters had to pull out with injuries – Liddell tore his right hamstring in training. It’s a serious enough injury to once again call into question his future in MMA. But, as Randy Couture has proved, there is life in the octagon after 40.

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The rumors have been floating around for some time but it was made official today at a press conference held at Trump Tower in New York. Donald Trump has purchased a “significant” equity stake in Affliction Entertainment and his first foray into the world of MMA is set to go down on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Aptly named “Affliction Banned“, the main event will feature Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianko (27-1) and former 2-time UFC heavyweight title-holder Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia (24-4). Trump also signed former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title-holder Andrei Arlovski to Affliction Entertainment.

“I have been a fan of professional sports since childhood, and I am particularly impressed by the athleticism, courage, and strength of these disciplined athletes.” said Donald J. Trump. “This particular sport resembles my business style of being fast paced, strategic, and aggressive…remembering to never give up. I am particularly excited to partner with Affliction and become a major player in promotion of MMA; the youngest and fastest growing sport to emerge in the last century.”

“Banned” is also the clothing manufacturer’s debut MMA promotion.

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