By now, everyone has read Jon Jones and Chuck Liddell’s recent comments about each other. In the latest round of verbal jabbing, “The Iceman” spoke about “Bones'” decision to respond to him on social media while neglecting to “tag” Liddell in the post so that he could be aware of what Jones is saying.
“The funny thing is he goes back at me, but if you’re gonna go back at me, tag me,” Liddell said in a recent interview. “Let me know you’re going back at me, so I can respond. I just thought it was kind of weird.”
“I wouldn’t be mad at him if he says he could beat me in a fictional fight in my prime,” Liddell said. “Is that gonna bother me? No. But if you ask me if I can knock him out, in my prime I could knock him out. Styles make fights. I wouldn’t have a problem hitting him and sooner or later he would go down. He doesn’t hit hard enough to stop me and he’s not gonna outwrestle me. Sorry.”
Liddell would go on to give Jones his props, all-the-while comparing him to another great fighter such as Floyd Mayweather, who always wins — but may not be the most entertaining fighter in the process of doing so.
“He’s a great fighter. It’s like Mayweather. Mayweather is a phenomenal fighter, I don’t like watching him. I don’t want to watch a guy outpoint a guy just enough to win and cruise.
“If that’s the way you fight and you’re the best in the world, you should be champion. Whatever your style of fighting, if you’re winning by the rules that are set by everybody, you should be champion. I’m not mad at him for fighting that way. I understand it. Honestly, I talked about Georges St-Pierre the same way. As a coach, as a manager, I get it. Great. I understand what he’s doing. As a fan, not so much. I don’t get it so much. That’s not what I want to see. But to each his own.”
Liddell concluded, “I don’t like that style. He has great talent, but I would love to see him go after people and do what I think he can do. But he seems to play it safe. If you choose to play it safe, I’m not really that entertained by watching you.”
While the two have gone back and forth with their comments in recent weeks, it appears to be all in good fun as the two took the following picture together while at UFC 196 last weekend.
Glad I had a chance to talk things out with Chuck tonight pic.twitter.com/x8cyyMZ7bl
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) March 6, 2016