Former UFC light heavyweight champion ‘The Iceman’ Chuck Liddell would have loved to have a matchup against the all-time great ‘Bones’ Jon Jones in the octagon.
Chuck Liddell vs. Jon Jones
The US-born Chuck Liddell was a striker in the UFC who was feared for his impressive punching power. Throughout his MMA career, he was able to capture the light heavyweight world championship and defend it in four bouts. He is a UFC Hall of Fame athlete due to his influence in coaching The Ultimate Fighter season 1 putting MMA into the mainstream. Additionally, he had blockbuster matchups against Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, and Quinton ‘Rampage‘ Jackson.
All-time great Jon ‘Bones’ Jones was able to capture the light heavyweight crown in 2011 and rack up a highly impressive 11 defenses of this title. Along the way, he defeated notable athletes such as Rashad Evans, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Daniel Cormier, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Lyoto Machida, and Glover Teixeira, among others.
‘The Iceman‘ said that one of his biggest career regrets is not getting the matchup booked against Jon Jones. There was some overlap with Jones making his UFC debut in 2008 and Liddell fought in the UFC until 2010. However, ‘The Iceman’ was aging out by this point having earned a 0-3 in the UFC post 2008.
Regardless, Chuck Liddell still wanted the showdown and believed he would have given ‘Bones’ some problems. Speaking on the JAXXON PODCAST, Liddell explained:
“That’s why I always said I would’ve been a bad matchup for [Jones] cause I’m probably one of the few guys where he would have a hard time dictating where I fought him. You know, I would’ve fought him. He would’ve had to fight me standing up, he couldn’t outwrestle me. He couldn’t take me down…He wouldn’t have been able to take me down. He would’ve had to strike with me.”