Tito Ortiz doesn’t believe he ever had a fair chance against Chuck Liddell under the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) banner.
Ortiz and Liddell competed twice in the UFC. Ortiz was finished by “The Iceman” in both bouts. The fights drew a lot of interest and money at a time when the UFC was trying to break through in the mainstream media. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” and Liddell will be remembered as pioneers.
Both men recently announced that they are coming out of retirement. Liddell recently met with Oscar De La Hoya for a potential November showdown with Ortiz under Golden Boy MMA. Nothing is set in stone, but Ortiz and Liddell appear confident that a deal can be made.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, Ortiz said he’ll have a clean slate fighting Liddell for a new promotion (via MMAFighting.com):
“Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell III, the fight that all the fans wanted to see for the longest time and never got a chance to. I never got a fair shake when I was with the UFC against Chuck, any of the times I ever fought against him. Let’s do it under a different promotion. Let’s do it under Golden Boy Promotion. He has a great background in promoting fights, some of the biggest fights in the world, and he bit on it, hook, line, and sinker. He’s in. Let’s see if we can make some history here.”
Ortiz last competed back in Jan. 2017. He submitted Chael Sonnen via rear-naked choke in the first round. As for Liddell, you’ll have to go back to June 2010 for his last outing. “The Iceman” was knocked out by Rich Franklin in the opening frame. Liddell walked away from the sport with three straight knockout losses.
Does a third bout between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell hold your interest in 2018?
