Chuck Liddell And Tito Ortiz Will Fight it Out Under Oscar De La Hoya’s New MMA Promotion… It’s ON…
This is actually happening. 49-year-old Chuck Liddell will fight his slightly younger counterpart, Tito Ortiz (42) later this year under Goldenboy Promotions. While they had announced that they were hoping to fight, it’s now understood to be official after Oscar De La Hoya released a statement to ESPN.
Liddell hasn’t fought for eight years, with his last appearance being a KO defeat to Rich Franklin. The former UFC light-heavyweight champion lost four of his final five fights, prompting him to hang up the gloves.
However, he couldn’t stay away and the chance to make some noise under Goldenboy Promotions was just too lucrative an opportunity for him. Ortiz has fought more recently under Bellator and is hoping that the even, as yet unscheduled, will rake in over 500,000 pay-per-views.
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Statement
If you don’t believe me, here’s the statement released by De La Hoya earlier today. He made a big deal out of how huge their rivalry is (Liddell won both fights convincingly). The first of their fights was in 2004, while the second was in 2006. We’re talking 12 years here. It’s not exactly as fresh as Jon Jones v Daniel Cormier.
“I’m proud to announce we’ve signed a deal for the fight between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz,” De La Hoya told ESPN. “This will be huge for sports fans around the world. Ortiz and Liddell are two of the most recognised fighters in MMA history. They are legends in the sport. Everyone remembers their rivalry helped put the sport on the map, and we’re excited to host the next and final chapter of this historic rivalry.”
History is right. With no disrespect to both men, this cage should be in a museum, not Madison Square Garden or the T-Mobile Arena…
Passion
‘The Iceman’ explained to TMZ why he is so desperate to get back into the cage after so long out of action. Basically, he’s an animal and is meant to fight. Let’s hope he’s competitive and this doesn’t end up being a decision he regrets for the rest of his life.
“I miss it. I never stopped missing it,” Liddell said. “And I kinda hadn’t really thought about it much. And then when he brought it up and we started getting going, and I started training and I started doing stuff again, getting ready to try to take this on, it made me go, ‘You know what, what if he pulls out?
Am I not going to fight? Am I going to do all of this and not fight?’ Oh no, we had to have somebody backing up, and if it doesn’t work out with him, I’m [still] going to give it a shot. It’ll be somebody else, one of the guys from my past probably, most likely, and we’ll see where I’m at.”
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Showdown
Well, it has to be better than Kimbo Slice vs Dada 5000 surely? It just has to be. UFC President Dana White won’t be happy that his buddy has ignored his advice. If Ortiz wins, can he really be satisfied knowing he’s beaten a man pushing 50?
Who have you got to win?
