The last time they fought, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell, was a 2-to-1 favorite over longtime rival Tito Ortiz.
Now, those lines have been reversed in favor of “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” according to Bovada, who opened as the -200 favorite roughly 12 years later. “The Iceman” drew +160 for his opening line.
I wouldn’t read too much into that. In a few more years, I could be a 2-to-1 favorite over Liddell too, because at some point you become too old to be fighting inside the cage and the 43-year-old Ortiz has five years on his fellow hall-of-famer.
When and where they fight remains to be seen, but it’s expected to take place as part of the newly-formed mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion under retired boxer Oscar de la Hoya and the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) doesn’t sound opposed to it.
Just for some perspective, the last time we had a Liddell-Ortiz main event, Marcio “Pe de Pano” Cruz was still a thing.