We’re just a few days out from what Tito Oritz says is his retirement fight. Disregarding the fact that he’s retired a couple of times before, his fight against Chuck Liddell, the third in their career series, does feel like a book end. Coming under the Golden Boy MMA banner, with a paycheck riding on how well the PPV show does, it’s something of a gamble. But, Ortiz told Cageside Press on Tuesday, he’s a gambling man. Looking down, well, he’d have to be. Even his shoes were something of a gamble (just check out the video above).

Speaking about the end of his career, Ortiz said that when he looks behind him, “there’s not one rock unturned. I’ve really worked hard to be where I am today, I’m very thankful to be where I am today.” Now, he can look forward to one last walk. One last fight. “Four more days, and it’s time to go to war. I can’t wait.”

In advance of the fight, he decked himself out for a funeral, presumably Liddell’s, or at least any notion of ‘The Ice Man’ making a comeback. An then there’s those shoes. Gold and black, gold spikes, as Ortiz pointed out. Combined with his gold and black watch and black suit, it was “like I’m going to a funeral,” he explained, “because there is going to be a burial Saturday night.”

At Tuesday’s press conference for the event, Golden Boy’s first foray into mixed martial arts, Ortiz claimed to have some inside knowledge of Liddell’s training. Some of that centered on Antonio McKee, who heads Team Bodyshop, where Liddell has held his current fight camp. However, Ortiz walked some of that talk back later on.

“Antonio never told me nothing. It wasn’t nothing towards Antonio,” Ortiz admitted. “I do know things though. You live in Huntington Beach, you’re not going to be able to get by things without me knowing.”

As to what, exactly, “training partners. People he’s training with, who he’s training with, how he’s training, the things he’s doing.”

Ortiz pointed out that Liddell “says he trains as much as he takes time off. Okay. He says he lets his body recover. Well, at that age you’ve got to let your body recover a little bit, I understand that.” However, while Ortiz lets his body recover as well, “I’m in the gym six hours a day,” he said. “For him to only be in the gym two hours a day, five days a week — I don’t know. I hope he’s in as good as shape as he says he’s in. I’m in great shape.”

Ortiz was clear, however, that McKee hadn’t leaked him any inside scoops. “I’ll take it back, what I said about Antonio. Antonio never said anything to me at all. Antonio’s a good dude, I’ve known him for a long time,” Ortiz reiterated. “But I know all the other training partners he’s with too.”

As far as the payday waiting at the end of all this, Ortiz admitted that it’s a gamble. Howver, “I’m a gambling man. I’ve always been a gambling man,” he said. “And I’m willing to put my gamble out there knowing that I have some really really great fans. I know Chuck Liddell has some really really great fans. They’ve always wanted to see this number three fight happen.”

We’ll know soon enough if those fans tune in for the trilogy fight between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

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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.

The post Chuck Liddell: You’re Going To See Me Back, You’re Going To See What Kind Of Shape I Really Am In appeared first on Cageside Press.