We all hope he is dead and not to avail in MKX....Hahahahahahahaha! More-less, he could return as his zombie form and hope that he would only come as a DLC.

Mature answer, smh. To answer your question, I don't think it was canon.

Since it happened in the story mode of the main continuity of games, yes, to this point Liu kang is fried. There are no contradictions that show otherwise.

What happened to him in MK 2011 was definitely 100% canon, along with everything else that happened in the game. The point of the story mode is to say "this is what happens". So MKX must do one of the following:

A.) Work off what happened to him in MK 2011; i.e have him dead, resurrected, revived, or somehow narrowly surviving and healing.

B.) Retcon what happened to him in MK2011, i,e saying "Most of what happened in MK2011 is cannon to this game, but that one little part, that didn't happen." In this case the "one little part" would be Raiden and Liu Kang's fight.

C.) MKX has a different canon to MK 2011. In other words, in MKX's continuity is unrelated to MK2011's.

I would go with either A or B, although I'd lean more towards A because that would be quite the retcon. I think it could still work if MKX started towards the end of MK2011, making the end of MK9 the "false" ending and this one being the "real ending" of MK2011.

Also, there are rumors of MKX being a crossover between two MK timelines. So even if Liu Kang is dead and stays dead in the MK2011 timeline, he's certain to be alive in another one, maybe the one that MKX crosses with.

I think Raiden is gona convince the elder gods to release the heroes' souls from the NetherRealm. Simple solution

I imagine the timelines are all messed up from the events of 2011 and Raiden tries to work out a way of putting it right. (again) lol

I really do hope that Liu Kang barely survived, and he comes back all scarred and angry at the gods.

I would like him to have survived, but left for dead by everybody and then come back in the new tournament as a hooded mysterious guy probably having turned into a master of the dark arts by Quan Chi and Shinnok.

Yea I'd like Liu to return all scarred and angry.