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If coming out of retirement after eight years spent fighting for the third time on Saturday against UFC Hall of Fame Tito Ortiz, was not surprising enough for Chuck Liddell, the "Iceman" has something more great to say about his return – this is just the beginning.
Liddell, age 48 (21-8), who had been forced to retire by UFC officials in 2010 after a trio of violent knockout losses, told CBS Sports on Tuesday that his fierce rival Ortiz (19-12-1) was nothing more. that's a "setting" for bigger things.
"I wanted to get back into the game. I was interested and excited to be fighting again and I needed a focus bout. And I needed it. from a focus fight that we can sell, "Liddell said. "Tito is an excellent focus bout and an excellent measurer for my comeback and comeback – if everything goes as planned on Saturday, I'll be ready to go fight someone really."
"If I can not play at the level I'm waiting for, I'll hang it up for good."
If you choose to remain skeptical about Liddell's decision making, you are not alone. While Liddell-Ortiz III brings enough name value and persistent hostility between fighters to arouse nostalgic interest, it's a fight that the UFC and even Bellator MMA – who promoted the last four fights of the young Ortiz old 43 years old – Nothing to do with.
The pair of legends and former UFC light heavyweight champions will meet on the PPV at the Forum in Inglewood, California (9 pm ET, TV FITE), under the banner of the Golden Boy banner of promoter Oscar De La Hoya, who debuted in MMA.
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There are still many skeptics about the quality of the fight, given poor performance and poor public performance by De La Hoya for fighting. It does not even take into account the combined age of the two fighters (91 years old) and the fact that Liddell watched his entire age closely during various workout videos made public before the fight.
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Chuck Liddell against Tito Ortiz |
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Deron Winn against Tom Lawlor |
Light truck |
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Gleison Tibau vs. Efrain Escudero |
Pick weight (160 pounds) |
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Walel Watson against Ricardo Palacios |
Bantam-weight |
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Jay Silva vs. Oscar Cota |
Heavy weights |
De La Hoya has made his two fighters equal partners in the fight against pay-per-view television which, according to the former boxing star, will count on the two biggest pay days of their career if the fight went well. financially, because of the extent of their percentage share. This remains an important point if the battle will sell badly, especially since the sale of tickets would have been slow and De La Hoya had lowered the price of the PPV to $ 39.99 Monday.
Anyway, regardless of the number of fans who face it, the two legends will be doing business for the third time in a rivalry that once helped make the UFC one of the pillars of power he has today. Liddell won both of his matches by knockout, including his rematch in 2006 at UFC 66, setting a new PPV record at the time for the sport of 1.05 million purchases.
"He says I'm an upcoming fight? I think this guy has lost his head over the past eight years," said Ortiz. "You have to understand, I've been competing in the last eight years." The last time I fought, it was against Chael Sonnen in 2017 and I smothered him in two and a half minutes My timing is here, my fight is here and everything is in order, always there exactly where I'm going to need to be able to beat Chuck Liddell.
"At the end of the day, we are enemies, we are not acquaintances, we are not friends, and on Saturday night I will smash his face and we will not be friends either."
Ortiz, who spent a grueling 18-week camp to make sure he's recovering from a neck surgery, said he would consider himself the winner. from rivalry he won his first win over Liddell on Saturday. He also thinks that Liddell was "gobbling up sand" by making himself look slower and older during public sessions to give Ortiz a false sense of security.
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Tito Ortiz -315 |
Chuck Liddell +245 |
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"It's the best chance he's ever had against me, but he's never had a chance," Liddell said. "Better luck, maybe, but I do not think it's a chance, if I do not stumble and do not break my ankle when entering the ring, I think he's in trouble.
"That's the only thing that when I retired, I heard the most fans:" Can you come back and fight again and beat Tito? "It was the question most often asked by every third fan I met and they said that."
Liddell has heard the negative talk about his age and his inactivity and does not adhere to the notion that if Ortiz takes it off early, the fight is over.
"I'm going to get up and knock him out," Liddell said. "It's very simple, I'm very good at getting out of the bottom, it makes me fall, I'll get up and finish the fight."
Ortiz, meanwhile, predicted that he would end the fight via knockout.
"What if I kept fighting and knocking him out of his own game? I'm stubborn like that," Ortiz said. "I just want to give the best fight to the fans."
Prediction
They say the last thing to do in an aging fighter is power and Liddell has already proven twice that he was able to change a fight against Ortiz at once. But aside from this "puncher's chance" in the first round, it's hard to imagine that Liddell's timing or stamina will match what we'll remember before a five-game losing streak in six starts 2007 and ending his career.
Ortiz has been beaten nine times since the retirement of Liddell (who has won four). If Liddell spends much of the opening round on his back, it is very likely that his gas tank will be emptied.
Liddell's other problem is his resistance to the punch, which actually disappeared 11 years ago after his defeat in a knockout against Quinton's "Rampage" Jackson. Ortiz has remained fairly durable in recent years and has been stopped due to only two strikes (via Ground and Pound against Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira) during the 12 fights since the last time that 's. he had shared the cage with Liddell.
Even if Ortiz avoids a sensible strategy and seeks to trade with Liddell, it would not be surprising to see him as the last man standing.
To choose: Ortiz via TKO in the first round
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