[Dxfiler]

Chuck is reaching the twilight years of his career, but I think he could make a serious run at the HW title if he moved up in weight-class.

These are my reasons:

1) Chuck would be hands down the best striker in UFC's HW division if he moved up

Right now anyone that could strike near Chuck's level is in another promotion. AA, Fedor, Crocop, Timmy... all good to great strikers that could pose a threat to Chuck but are not in the UFC. Best HW striker in the UFC right now is probably Werdum, who is a great fighter but just not as good a striker as Chuck. Chuck has the KO power to take out absolutely anyone in the HW division, including the current champion who he's knocked out twice. Which brings me to...

2) If Randy can move to HW there's no reason to think Chuck can't

Randy came out of retirement to basically be fed to Sylvia and shocked the world. Chuck wouldn't be fed to anyone and would be entering HW earlier than Randy if he does it soon. He has enough size where he wouldn't have to bulk up too much. Obviously he wouldn't be a giant but he'd definitely be bigger than others who have had great success in HW such as Randy.

3) Chuck has the best takedown defense in the UFC.

This is a big reason why I feel he could thrive in HW. There are so many more wrestlers and BJJ guys at HW. LHW was filled with dangerous strikers who could hang with Chuck while the primary gameplan of practically all the top heavies in the UFC is to take you down and finish from there. From the new guys (Carwin, Velasquez, Lesnar) to the veterans (Nog, Gonzaga, Mir)... they all focus on getting the fight to the ground. Some do submissions, others just go for GNP, but a startling amount of heavies do not want to stand and if they fought Chuck he would make them stand. Notable exceptions would be Kongo, Herring and maybe Couture/Werdum, who are all more than capable of standing, but I would give Chuck the advantage against any of them if it doesn't go to the ground.

4) Chuck has nothing to lose at this point in his career.

This is the biggest reason why I think he eventually moves to HW. There just isn't anything for him left at LHW other than maybe a rematch with Wand. Even if he got that rematch and beat Wand again, where does he go from there? He'd have to rematch at some point with guys that already beat him (Rampage/Jardine/Evans) or fight a top tier guy who also specializes in striking (Machida/Shogun). I mean yeah had he gotten past Rashad then he probably would've smacked around Forrest, but that's basically out the window now. Does he really want to spend another 1-2 years trying to climb that mountain again in LHW when HW is ripe with favorable matches for him?

Chuck has to seriously think about his career right now. I don't think he's ready to hang it up nor should he. There's plenty of great matches for him left and potentially a title down the road but it's all in heavyweight. By the way if I'm coming off as a Chuck nuthugger, I'm not :p I bet against him when he fought Rashad but at HW I'm not sure there's anyone I'd place as a favorite over Chuck right now in the UFC. The guy is the most dangerous striker in the UFC other than Anderson. It's silly to suggest he should hang it up because he's had a couple off fights. Right now the HW division simply isn't as stacked as it is in LHW and it's got to be a big confidence booster knowing that when you move up you're automatically the best striker in that division.

My guess is he might take one more fight at LHW then move up. Either that or he takes off alot of time then just moves up. Regardless I think HW is where it's at for Chuck and he has to be thinking to himself if Randy can do it so can he.

So I feel he can make the switch and be successful. Curious to see what others think.

[SpliffDiaz]

Read my sig...

[JKS]

Best striker at HW?? Oh, I dunno about that. I certainly would pick Kongo not only to beat Chuck, but kill him. The HW division is not a good idea for Chuck, especially at this point in his career. Stay at 205 and go from there. He's still that same guy that he was 2 years ago.

[Jizzer]

I can give you one reason chuck shouldnt fight at hw, brock lesnar

[Astronaut]

the only person he would probably beat are Randy Couture and Heath Herring

[DRAGULACRUISER]

Originally Posted by Jizzer

I can give you one reason chuck shouldnt fight at hw, brock lesnar

bandwagonning is happening more and more easily these days

[Astronaut]

Originally Posted by Jizzer

I can give you one reason chuck shouldnt fight at hw, brock lesnar

lolz

[Haunted99]

Are you crazy


The way he got knocked out by a guy way smaller then him makes you believe he'll be successful fighting guys way bigger then him?



Ahahaha, yeah good luck with that. Maybe now it's the time to call out Fedor some more.

[Dxfiler]

Originally Posted by JKS

Best striker at HW?? Oh, I dunno about that. I certainly would pick Kongo not only to beat Chuck, but kill him. The HW division is not a good idea for Chuck, especially at this point in his career. Stay at 205 and go from there. He's still that same guy that he was 2 years ago.

Kongo hasn't exactly evolved much either. He's got size going for him and he throws decent kicks (and is decent at kneeing people in the balls :p) but I think it's a stretch to say Kongo would 'kill' Chuck.

If Chuck stays at 205 where can he go?

It's the same dilemma Randy had after being devastatingly knocked out by Chuck. He re-evaulated his career and decided HW was his best shot to succeed... and it worked. This was a 43 year old Randy. Chuck is 39. He could take a year off and still go for it if he wanted to. I don't see the HW division suddenly exploding in talent unless Affliction folds and all their fighters are absorbed.

As the division stands right now, Chuck can do well at HW. Yes he's one-dimensional, but look at the guys getting title shots? You have Frank Mir fighting for the interim and Brock Lesnar fighting for the real thing. I wouldn't call either of them 'varied.' Even Nog, who I am a giant fan of, is basically a BJJ guy although his standup is decent. Of the 4 people fighting for HW titles/interim belts Randy is the most varied of them... AND CHUCK BEAT HIM TWICE

I think Chuck has to take some time off first and maybe train with another camp in addition to the Pit, but if he takes the move up seriously he could do alot of damage.

[j3richo]

at this point in his career, it's probably too late for chuck to effectively close his glaring striking errors, if someone as small as rashad evans almost put chuck in a coma, the guys at HW would break his neck if he gives them the kind of open head shot he gave to evans