Saying he just plain doesn’t like Tito Ortiz as they head into their third career fight, Chuck Liddell promises that “you’re going to see me back, you’re going to see what kind of shape I really am in.”
When Chuck Liddell takes on Tito Oritz for the third time on November 24, it won’t quite be a sense of deja vu, but it will be close. Liddell, of course, has faced off with the man before. Twice. And won both encounters. Yet the ‘Ice Man’ who squares off against Tito that night will be nearly a decade removed from the sport. He’ll be 48 years old. Long retired.
So why’s he back? “Fighting, I love fighting,” Liddell told Cageside Press on Tuesday. “I love the sport, and I love fighting. So that’s why I’m back.” As to why he’s come back to the Ortiz feud yet again, well, “Tito, I just don’t like him. I don’t like the kind of person he is. He’s classless. You saw him at my workout yelling and stuff. There’s no need for that.”
Ortiz decided to do a little heckling during Liddell’s turn at the open workouts. ‘The Ice Man’ continued, admitting that “I like poking fun at him because he’ll say something stupid, and talk trash to me. But it is one of those things, I just don’t like the guy, I don’t like the kind of person he is, I don’t like the way he treats people, I don’t like the way he is. So I’m going to have a lot of fun punching him in the face.”
In regards to Ortiz’s antics at the workouts, “it’s funny. It doesn’t bother me, him watching me work out,” Liddell said. “It’s not going to change anything I do. He can come watch all my workouts if he wants, he’s more than welcome to come watch me train. He’s just going to get more scared.”
This is Liddell’s first fight outside the UFC since his IFC days, if you discount his excursions into Pride. On how Golden Boy compares in terms of promotion, Liddell said that “it’s different, because we’re more involved in it. More involved in getting the different media outlets out, more involved in just promoting the fight.”
“The UFC has a well-oiled media machine for the fight,” he told us. “This has been a learning experience, but a lot of fun to get out there and work it, promoting the fight.”
In the build-up to the fight, Liddell had to go through the distraction of his home being threatened by the California wildfires currently raging. Luckily, “I was just evacuated [as a precaution], our home hasn’t been touched to my knowledge.”
“My kids were displaced for a little bit, but they came down to train with me, which made my day even better,” he added. “They got to come stay with me for a few days, they got out of school and stuff, so it was nice having them around for training camp.”
If Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 is a bit of a hard sell with fans because of Chuck’s time away from the cage, he made his case Tuesday. “You’re going to see a war. You’re going to see guys going after it,” the former UFC light heavyweight champ stated. “And you’re going to see me back. You’re going to see what kind of shape I really am in.”
Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 takes place November 24 at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. The card, under Golden Boy MMA, airs live on PPV.
