UFC president Dana White has given Chuck Liddell an ultimatum: Look impressive

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or find work elsewhere.

What keeps you motivated?" "Do you feel pressure?" "Why do you still do it?"

The questions to Chuck Liddell have varied in recent months, but they all essentially tackle the same issue: Can he still fight?

Liddell, 39, has lost three of his previous four bouts and the aura of The Iceman has begun to crack. The iconic image of a jubilant champion, arms outstretched while celebrating a win, has more recently been replaced with the sight of a fighter crumpled on the canvas, struggling to sort out where he is -- and why.

Next up for Liddell is former Pride star Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, a fighter also struggling to live up to his reputation.

[+] EnlargeAP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Chuck Liddell has gone back to basics in an effort to get back to his winning ways. UFC president Dana White, a friend and fan of Liddell, turned up the heat ahead of UFC 97 by saying Liddell's "going to have to go out there and dazzle me [against Rua] for me to want Chuck to still fight."

The rumblings have reached the Liddell camp, where they have been soundly ignored.

"It's the same stuff I've been hearing for a while now," Liddell said dismissively. "Yeah, that stuff doesn't bother me."

Write Liddell off at your peril, says trainer John Hackleman.

"It's just talk," Hackleman said. "He's 39. They've been saying that about Randy [Couture] since he was 39. And when Chuck's ready [to retire], he'll be ready and we'll all know it, and he'll know it and I'll know it and we'll make it happen. But right now, he's definitely got a heck of a lot more fire in his power and his punches.

"He's still got the timing, he's still got the skills, so he's not ready to give it up yet, I'll tell you that."

Hackleman and Liddell (21-6) often speak with one voice and their take on the recent woes is no exception. Bad habits had been formed, mistakes were made and a price was paid.

They reckon Liddell was winning the Rashad Evans fight until he made a mistake and got tagged. Liddell believes he won the Keith Jardine bout -- he lost by split decision -- although he acknowledges he should have done more to cement the win. And the title loss to Quinton Jackson came down to another costly error.

Along the way, Liddell battered Wanderlei Silva to interrupt the losses.

"It's not like he's doing terrible," Hackleman said.

After 16 years, Hackleman knows Liddell inside and out. And he has shown it in recent fights, warning Liddell of problems.

Take, for example, the Silva fight. Between rounds, Hackleman cautioned: "You've got to put your punches together. … You're pulling your right hand back. You're telegraphing your right hand, OK, but it's landing. … You've got to keep your chin down. Chin down, circle."

After the first round of the Evans fight, fellow coach Sammie Henson's message was simple: "Be patient."

The message clearly didn't get through. Liddell was knocked senseless less than two minutes later.

"I got a little impatient and got a little overexcited and got in a bad position and got caught," Liddell said.

Rua, for one, expects Liddell at his best.

"My take on Liddell is that he's a great fighter -- very dangerous with great skills," the 27-year-old former Pride star said through an interpreter. "And I enjoy fighting tough fighters, top fighters. This is what motivates me. And I'm taking this fight as facing the best possible Chuck Liddell, expecting him to come at the top of his game."

In his glory days, Liddell circled his opponent, moving in and out to snap punches while trying to draw the other fighter in so he could launch a counter-attack. More recently, Liddell has moved less and relied on his power -- his right hand constantly cocked. Evans and Jackson knew what he was going to do, and simply beat him to the punch.

"I've seen Chuck fight for a long time and I've always been mesmerized by how he gets guys to chase him," WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres said. "He knocks everybody out going backwards because they chase him. They think he's hurt or they think his hands are down and he gets them to chase him and he sucks them in.

"When he fought Rashad, I was sitting right there, front row, and I'm like 'Rashad had his hands down, he's backing up and he's making Chuck chase him.' He's the first guy to fight Chuck to make Chuck come forward and he caught Chuck slipping."

Other fighters also saw the slippage.

"Chuck got by on a long time with his striking style and then people started to figure it out a little bit," middleweight Jason MacDonald said. "He wasn't really evolving as a fighter. He was kind of coasting along, just beating people with what he was. And I really believe that Chuck went back to the drawing board … I really do think that Chuck is still relevant in the light heavyweight division."

Hackleman has brought in former Olympic champion boxer Howard Davis Jr. to work with Liddell to improve his footwork, both for defense and offense. Liddell also has focused more on his conditioning, thanks to his work with Henson, a former world champion and Olympic silver medalist wrestler.

"He was actually showing off his six-pack yesterday after training," Hackleman said. "He's more cut than he's been for the last couple of years."

Most importantly, Liddell has realized winners don't stand still in this sport.

"Guys just keep getting better and better," Liddell said. "If you don't keep improving, guys will pass you by."

Still, Liddell denies he became predictable -- other than "it's predictable I'm going to throw punches at you and I'm going to come try to knock you out."

Recent stumbles aside, Liddell remains a draw, pulling in fans for the UFC in exchange for $500,000 paychecks and a slice of the lucrative pay-per-view revenue he helps generate.

"He always brings his game. He is always going to fight hard," middleweight Nate Quarry said.

"Chuck's one of those kind of guys, he could lose a hundred times in a row and I would still love watching him fight," lightweight Junie Browning added.

Whether or not fight fans will want to see him fight if he loses Saturday is another question