Jon Jones might be the greatest light heavyweight of all time. In fact, if you’re asking me what I think, I’d say that considering who he’s beaten over the past 12 months and how he’s beaten them, there can be no question that Jones is the best the division has ever seen. I don’t need fancy-pants math to tell me what I already know in my gut.
Until Jones came along, Chuck Liddell was considered the best UFC light heavyweight champion of all time, knocking fools out left and right and striking fear deep into the hearts of every other fighter in the division. He was viewed like a Mike Tyson in his prime, the kind of fighter you expected to finish his opponent in violent fashion, and he delivered.
These days, Jones is the fighter to fear and the guy ruling the division with an iron fist. So it makes sense, then, that Liddell wouldn’t want to come out his UFC-mandated retirement unless it was for a title fight with the champ.
“The only thing that would make me even think about coming back is if they gave me a shot at the title,” Liddell told UFC Tonight. “I don’t want come back as a sideshow, you know? It’s just one of those things. It’s not something I want to do.”
I guess that officially puts the kibosh on any potential rumors of Liddell looking to return to the Octagon, because there’s no way he’d be anywhere close to a title fight if he decided to step back in the cage. Not that Dana White would allow his good friend to further risk his health by fighting again, anyway.
But you can help but wonder how a prime Liddell would fare against Jones, can you? Perhaps Jones would run through Liddell like he has so many other former champions. But maybe not. Maybe Liddell would wade through that gargantuan reach, get in the pocket and blast Jones on the chin.
Stranger things have happened.
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