Please Don’t Do it, Chuck. Please Don’t… Jon Jones Has Responded to the Iceman’s Callout…
Yesterday the news broke that Chuck Liddell is set to make his official return to competitive MMA. The news came straight from Liddell himself, who told the world during an interview on the MMA Hour. It’s totally real. What’s also totally real is that he is 48 years old.
During the interview, he made it clear how much he missed being in the octagon. Of course, that doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do. At the end of the day though, Liddell is an adult capable of making his own choices. Tito Ortiz is his most likely first opponent under Oscar de la Hoya’s Goldeboy MMA.
However, Liddell also called out Jon Jones. In what can only be termed as being totally deluded, the Santa Barbara native said that after two fights he’d like a shot at Jon Jones. There are very few words to describe how misguided this is. Can you imagine it?
Jones Responds
Jones is currently serving out a suspension after testing positive for Turinabol. He was also stripped of the light-heavyweight title – for a third time – after knocking out Daniel Cormier. Don’t let this take away from the fact that the man is an absolute beast in the cage. He responded to Liddell’s callout on Twitter:
“Old Chuck has been calling me out for years! I get it, I hold pretty much every record in the division. I normally try to respect my elders but if you want it come get it. Id literally fly you out to Albuquerque this weekend.”
Please don’t do it, Chuck. Maybe someone needs to sit him down and make him realize that those Rocky movies he’s been watching aren’t documentaries. Keep your last remaining brain cells!
Knockout
Another fun fact is that Liddell has been knocked out 6 times in his career. 4 of those came in his last 6 fights. There’s a reason he retired. It’s because he developed a glass jaw and went past his fighting sell-by-date. It’s sad but it happens. Challenging Jon Jones isn’t the best way to stay alive. Jones warned him:
“You might want to test the strength of that jaw before you take a bite you cant chew.”
Realistically though, what does he think he’s learned in the 8 years since he last fought, that he thinks he can do better now? His body will be slower, while his cardio will be in decline. Liddell will also be much more susceptible to damage as a 48-year-old.
Ruthless
For his part, Jones didn’t really seem to take the callout seriously. Would he rule it out completely? Probably not because who knows if we’ll ever see him back in the UFC again. However, he went on to shred Liddell in a third tweet:
“In all seriousness @ChuckLiddell I appreciate your offer for a fight, but due to scheduling conflicts may not be able to fulfill till mid 2019.
In the Upcoming months I have similarly lethal opponents in Ric Flair and George Foreman awaiting.”
It’s a little bit mean but there’s no question that Liddell should probably sit down and think about what he’s doing before he decides to give up the rest of his brain cells for the entertainment of the world.
