Chuck Liddell is confident that the UFC light heavyweight title belt is coming home to The Pit.
Liddell was the man who put John Hackleman’s San Luis Obispo, Calif. gym on the map. In a Hall of Fame career which was punctuated with a two-year reign as light heavyweight champ, “The Iceman” became a crossover star.
On Saturday, the most serious contender to come out of The Pit since Liddell’s heyday, Glover Teixeira, challenges current titleholder Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 172 in Baltimore.
And while Jones is the odds-on favorite, Liddell believes his time has come.
“I think [Glover] either hurts [Jones] with a punch and he shoots and submits him, or knocks him out,” Liddell said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I’m not sure which one, but it’s one of those things. Doesn’t get past [round] three.”
Liddell believes, all other things being equal, that Teixeira’s punching power will make the difference.
“I thought style-wise it is a good matchup for him,” Liddell said. “He has the wrestling to hang in there with him on takedowns, if Jon Jones shoots in he has to be careful not to get caught in something, if he does get him down, Glover is really good at getting him off his back. I think the think that’s going to have the biggest effect is the power that Glover has. He hits very hard.”