“I’m going to go out, be myself and show what kind of people we do have in this sport,” Liddel said. “I’m sure the reaction will be mixed (among fight fans). My friends are going to be excited, and I’ll never hear the end of it because they’ll make fun of me, but it should be fun and I think everyone will like it.”

I have long said that MMA is destined to be the new American sport.  I believe the sports fan has a hole left by baseball in particular, a sport that has suffered from inflated expectations that can only be attributed to steroid use.  After coming to expect 50 home run seasons and 750 home run careers, we’re now realizing that it was all a pipe dream.  Americans are dying for a technical, demanding, “how do they do that” sport, and MMA is there to fit the bill.

Will Liddell lose some respect among a small contingent of the more meatheaded fans of MMA?  Absolutely.  However, what he is about to do for the sport will outweigh that trivial negative a hundred fold.  Liddell is one of the more charismatic, likeable athletes to compete in MMA.  That is why the man garners so much respect among its fans.  He has dominated the sport and is known for a heavy hand that could chop down a tree.  He is scary looking.  His bulbous gut and mohawk hearkens to your local tavern bully.  However, behind that facade is a normal guy trying to make a living doing what he was apparently born to do: maul people with his bare hands.

This is the UFC’s chance to put a very public, human face to an inhuman sport.  Now that boxing has officially fallen out of the public consciousness, it is high time a combat sport stepped up and filled the void.  MMA is primed to do it, and be damn sure that today’s announcement is going to speed the process.  Last season, more than 20 million watched the season premiere.  Those people are about to meet a very scary man.  We will see how the world reacts.