The former UFC champion has a third fight with Tito Ortiz just around the corner. It’s his first time stepping back in the cage in nearly a decade, but he sounds like he couldn’t be more ready to go.
For many fans, the way the UFC handled Chuck Liddell’s retirement felt just right. A former champion and star of the sport, who clearly didn’t have what it took to compete at the highest level, being asked to walk away after a string of tough KO losses. And for his trouble, Liddell would get a UFC front office job “for life.”
Fast-forward almost a decade and it turns out that a lifetime doesn’t seem to last nearly as long as it used to. And what seemed to many as a totally appropriate sendoff by the UFC now seems to carry something closer to resentment, when spoken of by Liddell.
The ‘Iceman’ sat down with FightHub TV recently in the buildup to his forthcoming MMA return to talk about why he’s fighting Tito Ortiz again, and what it’s like to get back to training years after being “pushed out” of the sport.
“It’s one of those things, like, I wasn’t finished,” Liddell said, reflecting on why he’s making his comeback after more than 8 years of retirement. “When I left the sport, you know, I’d just changed my training. I’d changed my training, I was doing things different. I was starting to improve everything. Everything was getting better. And I just kinda ran into that… I made a couple mistakes in that fight and kinda got pushed out. So, I wasn’t finished.
“And this got me started, this got me thinking,” he added, in reference to words exchanged between himself and Tito over social media during the summer of 2017, “‘You know what, I’m gonna see if I can get back in shape. I’m gonna see how it feels. And then I saw all the stuff online telling me I couldn’t. “You’re too old. Stay retired.” And that’s the last thing you should do to me. Don’t tell me I can’t do anything. I can do anything I put my mind to.
If I want to do something, I’ll work my butt off and I’ll get it done.”
Liddell went on to note that, more than the opportunity to fight Ortiz again, the chance to prove that he still has what it takes was the real motivator to return to MMA. A chance to prove doubters wrong, and show that he can still bring something of the quality that made him a world champion.
“I took this as a chance for me to get back to doing what I love,” Liddell explained. “And get back to proving people wrong. I’ve always been told I couldn’t do stuff my whole life. And this is my chance to prove to people that I can still do this. If I put my mind to it, no matter if… I’ve had injuries, I’ve had setbacks training, and stuff. But I just put one foot in front of the other and I keep moving forward and I’m here. It’s first day of training camp and I’m pretty much down to weight, I’m in great shape, everything is firing great. I can’t wait for this fight to happen.”
But that doesn’t mean he still isn’t looking forward to putting hands on a familiar opponent, one more time.
“You know, some guys, like Chael Sonnen, they’re out there selling a fight. He’s doing a WWE kinda thing,” Liddell said, speaking of Tito Ortiz’s personality. “Tito is Tito. That’s not an act. He’s an ass.
“I’m a man of principal. I can’t even fathom being friends with a guy like him, because he’s the type of guy that I despise. I don’t like guys that carry themselves this way, and I just don’t like the guy.”
In terms of the fight promotion that Ortiz is actually doing, the longtime “Pit” fighter out of San Luis Obispo seems to feel that his opponent’s trash talk has been more confusing than anything.
”I think it’s the funniest thing in the world,” Liddell said, “that Tito is trying to sell that I’m washed up. And that’s why he can beat me. But, he wants to beat me to vindicate the two losses before. So, why are you trying to sell that I’m washed up? Even if you feel that I’m washed up and that’s the reason you can beat me, why are you trying to sell that? Because now you’re basically just saying that you can beat a washed up Chuck, but you can’t beat a Chuck that isn’t washed up. And I’m very sorry to say, Tito, that I’m not washed up. You’re gonna find out.”
Golden Boy Presents Liddell vs. Ortiz III takes place on November 24th in Inglewood, CA at the Forum arena. The event will be co-mained by a light heavyweight fight between Kenneth Bergh & Jorge Gonzalez and feature former UFC fighters Gleison Tibau, Efrain Escudero, Walel Watson, Jay Silva, Tom Lawlor, and Albert Morales. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates.