UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell spoke in support of former champion Cain Velasquez amidst his ongoing legal battles. Velasquez has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly attempting to shoot an accused child molester of one of his younger relatives. In a high-speed chase, Velasquez shot and hit Henry Goularte’s stepfather during the incident,…
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell spoke in support of former champion Cain Velasquez amidst his ongoing legal battles.
Velasquez has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly attempting to shoot an accused child molester of one of his younger relatives. In a high-speed chase, Velasquez shot and hit Henry Goularte’s stepfather during the incident, when he was attempting to shoot Goularte instead.
During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Liddell gave his thoughts on Velasquez’s legal situation and a judge recently denying him bail.
“It’s so funny how easy it is to get out – they’re letting all these crazy people out,” Liddell said. “But you have a problem with letting him (Cain Velasquez out? I don’t know. I get it. In that situation, I get it.
“Stay strong. We’re here for you (Cain Velasquez). We love you.” (h/t LowKickMMA)
Liddell has also faced his own legal issues in recent months. He was accused of domestic violence against his then-wife but the charges were later dropped.
Velasquez is scheduled to return to court on June 10th, and Goularte will appear in court in a separate child molestation case a few days earlier on June 6th.
What are your thoughts on Chuck Liddell’s comments on Cain Velasquez?
Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell has called for former heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez to be released on bond after the Salinas native was denied bail on multiple occasions following his part in an alleged shooting in California earlier this year. Liddell, a former undisputed light heavyweight champion under the UFC’s banner, initially retired […]
Former UFC light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell has called for former heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez to be released on bond after the Salinas native was denied bail on multiple occasions following his part in an alleged shooting in California earlier this year.
Liddell, a former undisputed light heavyweight champion under the UFC’s banner, initially retired from professional mixed martial arts back in June 2010 following a knockout loss to Rich Franklin. The Santa Barbara would, however, return in 2018 for a professional outing against Tito Ortiz, suffering a first round knockout defeat.
For Velasquez, the former undisputed heavyweight champion, most recently competed professionally in the main event of UFC Fight Night Phoenix in February 2019, suffering a first round knockout to current undisputed division champion, Francis Ngannou.
In February of this year, Velasquez is alleged to have shot from a moving vehicle, striking a male in an attempt to shoot another man who is alleged to have committed child sexual abuse acts on a close relative of Velasquez.
Arrested, Velasquez has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, amongst numerous other charges, and so far, has been denied bail on two separate occasions in subsequent court appearances.
Chuck Liddell defends fellow former UFC champion, Cain Velasquez
Velasquez, who is set to return to court on June 10. for his next hearing, has been offered support by the aforenoted, Liddell, who admitted that he understood Velasquez’s alleged actions.
“It’s so funny how easy it is to get out – they’re letting all these crazy people out,” Chuck Liddell told TMZ during a recent interview. “But you have a problem with letting him (Cain Velasquez out? I don’t know. I get it. In that situation, I get it.”
“Stay strong,” Chuck Liddell explained. “We’re here for you (Cain Velasquez). We love you.”
Tito Ortiz is ready to call it a career in combat sports and intends on retiring under the bright lights of the UFC. Ortiz, 47, has stayed fairly active in combat sports since his exit from the UFC 10 years ago. Under the Bellator banner, Ortiz won three out of four bouts before moving onto […]
Tito Ortiz is ready to call it a career in combat sports and intends on retiring under the bright lights of the UFC.
Ortiz, 47, has stayed fairly active in combat sports since his exit from the UFC 10 years ago. Under the Bellator banner, Ortiz won three out of four bouts before moving onto a short political career that was marred in controversy.
Now the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ is ready for one more fight and wants to do it in the Octagon with fellow former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
“It’s never over and I think I made that mistake with the UFC when I said I’ll never fight for the UFC ever again,” Ortiz said while speaking to Helen Yee Sports. “And now that I think about it, that’ll be an amazing last fight for myself and for Shogun Rua.
“Shogun has his last fight with the UFC, we’re in kind of the same era, so it would be nice to see a Tito Ortiz vs. Shogun. I would like that.”
Tito Ortiz Believes ‘Shogun’ is The Perfect Opponent For His Retirement
Despite both being signed by the promotion from 2007 to 2012, Ortiz and Rua never crossed paths. Now with ‘Shogun’ on the final fight of his UFC contract and facing retirement himself, Ortiz believes it’s the perfect opportunity to book a contest between the two icons.
“I have a lot of respect for Shogun, I think he’s an amazing former champion, an amazing fighter,” said Ortiz. “I watched his last fight. I thought he won the fight, but they ended up giving it to OSP. Let’s see what happens in the future.”
‘Shogun’ has dropped his last two contests. Most recently he was on the losing end of a close split decision to Ovince St. Preux at UFC 274.
On the flip side, Ortiz has won his last three mixed martial arts bouts. In 2018, Ortiz defeated his UFC rival Chuck Liddell in a trilogy bout under the Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions label. Ortiz followed that up with a first-round submission over Alberto Rodriguez, better known to WWE fans as Alberto Del Rio.
Do you want to see Tito Ortiz return to the UFC for a retirement bout against ‘Shogun’ Rua?
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell recently appeared on the podcast Steve-O’s Wild Ride and recounted an altercation he had involving a group of Navy SEALs while he was working in a bar. Host Steve-O and “The Iceman” touched on several topics during the podcast, ranging from Liddell’s rise in the UFC to hiking in…
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell recently appeared on the podcast Steve-O’s Wild Ride and recounted an altercation he had involving a group of Navy SEALs while he was working in a bar.
Host Steve-O and “The Iceman” touched on several topics during the podcast, ranging from Liddell’s rise in the UFC to hiking in Peru. The Jackass star was particularly interested in a story he’d heard about Liddell “fighting with a bunch of Navy SEALs” while Liddell was working as a bartender.
“I wasn’t involved in most of it,” Liddell explained. “The first time they came in, all the guys that trained with me that were normally working at that bar were in Hawaii with us.”
One person who was at the bar was Liddell’s friend and training partner Gan McGee. “The Giant” fought several times in the UFC and challenged Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight strap in 2003.
According to Liddell, McGee ended up with “a cut somewhere on his face” the first time the group came through the bar. The former UFC champion went on to detail what happened when the group of Navy SEALs returned.
“They showed up again two weeks later, and so the guys kind of got back at them,” Liddell said. “When I showed up one of my buddies had a guy pinned and the only thing I did was I ran over and this guy was hitting my buddy that had him pinned. I ran over and just head-snapped the guy and bounced his face off the ground.”
Host Steve-O was surprised that the UFC Hall of Famer didn’t choose to grapple in that situation, but Liddell was quick to explain why that was.
“Once it goes to throwing punches I don’t do that. I did that one time in college and got kicked in the face while I was doing it.” He concluded the story by indicating there were no hard feelings regarding the incident, and that “shit happens” when it comes to bar fights.
Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is one of the most popular fighters in the history of the UFC. He reigned as UFC light heavyweight champion from 2005 to 2007 and is widely credited with helping to establish the modern popularity of both the UFC and the sport of MMA.
After retiring in 2010 following three-straight knockout losses, Liddell returned to action in 2018 for a third fight against rival Tito Ortiz. Contested under the Golden Boy Promotions brand, Liddell lost the fight by first-round KO. Liddell most recently made headlines in 2021 regarding domestic violence charges that were later dropped.
What do you think about the former UFC champion’s story from his days working as a bartender?
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell sat down with Steve-O for a conversation where they discussed the infamous incident. Before he was an MMA legend, Chuck Liddell was working as a bartender in the San Luis Obispo area of Central California. Although he was still training in the sport, Liddell would double as security in […]
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell sat down with Steve-O for a conversation where they discussed the infamous incident.
Before he was an MMA legend, Chuck Liddell was working as a bartender in the San Luis Obispo area of Central California. Although he was still training in the sport, Liddell would double as security in the bar.
Chuck Liddell’s fight with Navy SEALs
In a recent appearance on Steve-O’s podcast, the ‘Iceman’ spoke about his experiences as a fighter and his time working at the establishment. Upon the request of Steve’s buddy Chris Pontius from Jackass!, Steve-O asked Liddell to recount his popular encounter with a bunch of Navy SEALs.
Liddell revealed his involvement in the whole scuffle.
“Yeah, that happened a long time ago,” Liddell said. “People ask (me) that all the time. For me, I wasn’t involved in most of it. The first time they came in, all the guys that were training with me that were normally working at that bar were in Hawaii with us. Because we all went to Hawaii, the whole fight team.
“And Gan McGee was still there (former training partner), he was 6’10” and almost 300 pounds and he fought for a UFC World Title at one point. But he was involved in it and he got cut over his eye, or he got a cut somewhere on his face I think.
“Then a couple of his buddies were really pissed off and everyone’s mad about it. And then they (the Navy SEALs) showed up again two weeks later and so the guys (the bartenders/fellow fighters) got back at them.”
The moment Liddell steps in and “head snapped” one of the opponents.
“When I showed up, one of my buddies had a guy pinned. The only thing I did was I ran over and this guy’s hitting my buddy and the guy who started hitting my buddy had him pinned so I ran over and just head snapped the guy and bounced his face off the ground.” (h/t brobible).
After one of the most viral knockouts in sports history occurred at UFC 274, fight fans were met with a humbling scene. After recovering from unconsciousness, Tony Ferguson exited the cage and was embraced by the legend Chuck Liddell: a man who has been on the wrong side of many gruesome knockouts himself. The battle […]
After one of the most viral knockouts in sports history occurred at UFC 274, fight fans were met with a humbling scene. After recovering from unconsciousness, Tony Ferguson exited the cage and was embraced by the legend Chuck Liddell: a man who has been on the wrong side of many gruesome knockouts himself.
The battle between Ferguson and Michael Chandler was extremely competitive in the first round, so much so that the intensity was rising, and tension was at an all-time maximum worldwide. Ferguson’s combos were straight and true, and he had massive success utilizing his reach earlier on the shorter man that is ‘Iron Mike’.
Chandler hung tough, however, displaying his chin. He ate ‘El Cucuy‘s’ best shots and was serving meteors of his own, swinging for the fences in the truest form of the phrase. Things hit the ground, and Chandler finished up with some beautiful ground-and-pound. However, ‘El Cucuy’ threatened submissions from the bottom and landed some clinical elbows. It was a very even round with Ferguson getting the better on the feet and Chandler arguably doing the better work on the ground.
Things would change, however, early into the next round. ‘Iron Mike’ would secure the greatest knockout in his entire career and cement his highlight reel as potentially one of the greatest in MMA. And Ferguson? Well, the entire MMA community was devastated for him.
Heart Break and Devastation: Tony Ferguson and Chuck Liddell Embrace After Gruesome Front Kick KO at UFC 274
A beloved figure in MMA, you would be hard-pressed to single out another fighter that fans love any more than Tony Ferguson. The authenticity, the throwing of imaginary sand during fights, the cryptic tweets – the man is just one of a kind.
So, you could understand that while everybody was happy for Chandler and impressed (to say the least) by the knockout, the general feeling was that of sadness. However, to ease the hearts of MMA fans, an icon was there to give Ferguson a simple embrace, and say some words that have not yet been disclosed publically.
How the Wheel Turns: Chuck Liddell Embracing Tony Ferguson Is Both Ironic and Iconic
Fans of old-school MMA will be well aware of Chuck Liddell. ‘The Iceman’ was a brutal fighter, who devastated his opponents with rapid-fire strikes that erased consciousness and etched his very name into the stones of greatness.
Until the day things changed. No longer was Chuck Liddell the impervious monster of fiction and lore. He was human. And he was being knocked out by almost everybody. So, the infamy died down, and people realized he was no god, but a mortal man with consciousness like the rest of humanity.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Tony Ferguson appears to have followed a near-identical path. He was unstoppable, the ‘boogeyman of the division.’ Until now. It started with the epic loss to Justin Gaethje during the covid pandemic, and it resumes with this dramatically shocking knockout he sustained in the Chandler fight at UFC 274. Tony Ferguson is mortal, and he is human. ‘El Cucuy’ is a boogeyman no longer.
That’s why it’s fitting that none other than Chuck Liddell was there to embrace Tony Ferguson after such a terrible defeat. MMA fans will never lose their love for either fighter, but it has become a sad reality that neither man will reach the heights they once stood at.
What are your thoughts regarding this heart-warming embrace between two legends in Liddell and Ferguson?