According to Tito Ortiz, he and Chuck Liddell weren’t always such bitter rivals. In fact, Liddell once got in a street fight alongside him, Ortiz claimed this week.
Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 is set to go down later this month at The Forum in L.A., and whatever you may think of the booking, it will be one of the biggest grudge matches this year. Conor-Khabib. TJ-Cody. Asked how the fans react when something personal is on the line, Tito Ortiz said Tuesday that “when there’s something personal on the line, the fans attract to it. You got the fans who love Tito Oritz, you got the fans who hate Tito Ortiz. You got the fans who love Chuck Liddell, you got the fans who hate Chuck Liddell.”
“I get paid to train, I fight for free. When it’s fight time, it’s fun,” Ortiz later added. He admits training is the hard part, leaving his body aching. But it’s all worth it.
For at least one more fight. “Right now, all I’m thinking about is this fight,” and not any others, he told media outlets including Cageside Press at the open workout session. “That’s all I want, this fight. I got an opportunity. Liddell called me out, and I was like ‘hey, third blessings can be true.’ To get my hand raised is the next one. I know I’ve put in the work. But right now, all I’m focused on is Chuck Liddell.”
Liddell, earlier, had claimed not to recall times Ortiz has mentioned in the past, involving the two of them being a little more friendly. “I guess he’s been punched in the head way too many times. He’s forgot a lot of things,” Ortiz quipped.
“I remember him sitting on my couch picking his dirty-*ss toes, and my wife telling me ‘why in the hell is he picking his feet on our couch?'” While that story isn’t about the steal any headlines, Ortiz also recalled the pair getting into a street fight overseas. “I remember him defending me and standing street fighting with a guy in England,” Ortiz revealed. “The guy punched me, he punched the guy back.” True friends fight for each other, don’t they? That seems to be what Ortiz was getting at. “But Liddell, he’s confused, and I understand it. I know what the truth is,” Tito continued. “And you know what, he ain’t my friend. He ain’t my homie. He ain’t someone I’m going to back up.”
In fact the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ later added that “I’m doing him a favor my taking this fight against him.”
As to why he’s coming back, Ortiz stated that “I love to compete. I love a challenge. I lost to this guy twice. I’m willing to take a chance. I want to take a chance. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t take a chance. I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t take a chance.”
“Everybody else, they lose twice and they say ‘aww I’m done, I don’t wan to do that again, I’m afraid to do that again,'” Ortiz suggested. Not him, however. “No, I’m not afraid to do that again. I want to try. I want to try to get my hand raised. I’m going to go out there and do whatever I possibly can to get my hand raised. And I think that’s the most important thing, that I’m a hard working Mexican-American that worked hard to where I am today. If someone tries to prove me wrong, I’m going to try to prove them wrong as many times as I possibly can. If it takes ten times, it’ll be ten times.”
“There’s no quit in me. There’s never been quit in me through my whole 21 years of competition,” he added.
