(And to think this all started with a friction-based erection.)
Chuck Liddell has been through some shit, Potato Nation. He fought through the dark ages of the UFC, and in fact helped spearhead its rise into the mainstream. And he walked that path to glory on the mangled bones and concussed skulls of his dearest friends and family. The man’s nickname is “The Iceman,” for Christ’s sake, and considering that the nickname is written in quotations, it must literally mean that he has ice flowing through his veins. So you can imagine his lack of understanding when it comes to all these pussified, liberal fighters claiming that they won’t fight their teammates nowadays. According to Liddell, these so-called fighters should put their differences aside in the cage, duke it out, and then have a beer afterward. Here’s what he told The MMA Hour:
If (a teammate) can beat me, they can beat me. It is what it is. They deserve to fight me then. I’m not going to hold back some guy that’s in my camp if he wants to fight me. That’s not my thing. It’s just a personal choice and a personal opinion, but I think eventually, hey you guys are going at it, then go out and have two beers together afterwards. Go out there and prove who’s best that day, and go out and be friends again.
Given Liddell’s well documented feud with former teammate Tito Ortiz, you can rest assured that he is a man of his word. Hell, the fact that these two can even stand in the same room with each other, let alone pose for these kinds of pictures is pretty amazing after all that they have been through. So you see, Rashad, if you and Jon could just let bygones be bygones, then maybe Greg Jackson wouldn’t have to undergo holistic treatments every night to help cure his anxiety-induced ulcers.* Just don’t take the “fight anyone” philosophy to the extremes that Houston Alexander did.
And while we’re on the subject of the upcoming Jones/Evans clash, perhaps we can talk about the current betting lines, which are inflated to say the least. Many gambling sites have Evans listed around a five-to-one underdog, and some have him listed as high (or low, maybe?) as seven-to-one. Needless to say, Liddell does not believe that the man who nearly sent him to his maker stands next-to-no chance of upsetting “Bones,” no matter how good the current champ is. In a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Liddell was rather candid in his assessment of the betting odds:
I think that’s ridiculous. 5 to 1, and 6 to 1, I mean, Jon’s been great, he’s doing great, and he’s going to keep getting better, but this is a fight styles wise that’s a tougher fight for him than the ones he’s had.
He likes to control the distance, control where the fight was, whether it was standing or on the ground, and I think he’ll have a harder time doing that with Rashad. When you can shoot in and take a guy down, you can change the distance whenever you want, you can be pressed to do something else, and it’s a lot easier to follow your game plan.
If I was a betting man, with the odds, absolutely no question you have to go with Rashad. That’s for sure. It should be a pick em’ but I want to see if Rashad can do it. I really want to see how Jon reacts, I want to see him get pushed and see how he reacts.
As Jones himself has acknowledged before, Rashad’s best chance at walking away with the belt around his waist come Saturday night lies in his ability to get the fight to the ground. The question is, do you think “Suga” is powerful enough to get past Jones’ ridiculous reach advantage?
*Contrary to what I’ve written, Greg Jackson does *not* have an anxiety-induced ulcer, at least not to my knowledge. It was an attempt at a joke, Greg, so for the love of God, don’t sue me. I am the son of a poor, Welsh farmer with a peg leg who owns approximately 15 acres of government-subsidized farm land, so there would be nothing to take anyway.**
**OK, I lied. None of the things I just said about myself are true. For the love of God, Jones, don’t sue yourself.
-J. Jones