CSAC director: If Chuck Liddell passes his advanced medicals, I will grant him a license

Former UFC light heavyweight champion and Hall-of-Fame inductee Chuck Liddell made the headlines this past week, after announcing his intention to come out of retirement. The 48-year-old legend had even managed to create a mini rift with the currently shelved Jon Jones.

As of this writing, it has not been 100% confirmed if Liddell would be given the green light to return to fighting by the powers that be. California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster, however, is open to doing so, but under one condition.

“If Chuck passes his medicals – his advanced medicals … I will administratively grant him a license,” Foster told MMAjunkie.

Based on the CSAC’s guidelines to grant licenses to fighters, Liddell must submit a magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) of his brain, as well as subject himself to annual tests such as MRI scans, EKGs, cardiac tests, blood work, a vision test, and neurocognitive testing. If any of these tests “subsequently suggest a deterioration in health status”, Liddell would not be granted a license.

But according to Foster, another big factor would be the opponent that Liddell would be matched up with.

“It would obviously depend on the opponent,” he added. “I don’t want to comment on who the opponent is.”

“But his ability to license is different from his ability to compete, and his ability to compete would depend on who the opponent is.”

During the latter part of Liddell’s fighting career from 2008 to 2010, he suffered three consecutive knockout losses. His final fight ended via first-round knockout at the hands of Rich Franklin at UFC 115 in June 2010.