Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell Say Fight is Still On
Following conflicting reports that their upcoming matchup may be off, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, who serve as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 11, both recently confirmed on Twitter that the bout is still on.
Liddell has won both previous meetings between the former light heavyweight champs, scoring a second-round knockout of Ortiz in their first meeting in April 2004 before a third-round TKO ended their second fight in December 2006.
While reports suggested that Liddell could be pulled from his matchup with Ortiz to face Rich Franklin, who may be brought in as a replacement for Ortiz on TUF 11, UFC President Dana White denied the rumors and said the UFC was instead planning on Franklin fighting Randy Couture.
Liddell (21-7) briefly retired after suffering a first-round TKO to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his most-recent fight last April, his fourth loss in his last five fights, but the 40-year-old UFC hall of famer has opted to return for at least one more fight.
Ortiz (15-7-1), who returned from an 18-month layoff in a loss to Forrest Griffin in November, won five-straight between 2004 and 2006 over Griffin, Ken Shamrock, Vitor Belfort, and Patrick Cote, but has failed to win since, going 0-3-1 with losses to Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Griffin and a draw against Rashad Evans.
Liddell-Ortiz was expected to headline UFC 115 on June 12 in Vancouver, but Ortiz was recently hospitalized with a “bad flu” and it’s not yet known if the illness could delay the matchup.
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Pictured: Tito Ortiz
Tags: Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz
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Um, maybe Dana should get on a conference call with Franklin, Couture, Tito and Chuck so they can all decide exactly who’s fighting who, where, and when.
After they sort that all out, then maybe they could clue us in…
:)
another loss on the way to Liddell than Dana get cut him and he could join the strikeforce circus
Dana won’t cut Chuck. Period.
with a paper clip he did.
i was referring to TITO. getting axed from UFC for good
Tone it down a little.
-Justin
First off i dont see Tito winning this fight.
Second Dana will never “cut” Chuck. Chuck is his boy and would never want chuck to go anywhere else. I know Dana doesnt want him to fight but will let him if he wants to.
I get that you mean that Dana would cut Ortiz, not Liddell, if he lost their fight, but I’m not so sure.
With Strikeforce slowly gaining traction every day, the last thing the UFC wants to do is give them a marketable fighter with a UFC chip on his shoulder.
If Liddell beats Ortiz, look for an avalanche of excuse-making, followed by Tito “retreating” to BigBear for a bit, and then the release or more Tito-vision vids calling out Forrest Griffin or Randy Couture for rematches…
Tito is my boy, but you drop this one, time to hang’em up and focus on coaching.
for sure tito’s my #1
UfC is finally coming the Western Canada (Vancouver) and our Headliners are all washed up, broken down fighters. Dana, give your head a shake.
Quit your b!tching!
Didn’t you guys just get the Olympics? And win the gold in hockey?!
:)
Plus, you get all the cool Canadian extras that we don’t get here in the States, like GSP, and Tim Horton’s, and better beer, and friendlier females…
At least you get MMA! Here in New York, it’s against he law!! C’Mon New York! I’d LOVE to see The Iceman vs. Tito here on Long Island! I’m telling you, Matt Serra would be bigger here than Uriah Faber in Sacremento, if MMA was legal.
If GSP was (very hypothetical) to do a rubber match with Serra there, who do you think would have the larger fan base? I know Serra is the Hometown hero but its the Greatness were talking about ;)
The best part of MMA being legalized in NY, and then possibly coming to the Nassau Coliseum, is seeing GarRule on some future PPV skydive onto the floor from the rafters in his half shirt so we can all see his “i heart serra” tramp stamp…
:P
Wow. I have no response to THAT!! HAHA Forget the tramp stamp visual…the idea of wearing a half-shirt is what got me!
Actually, Serra would be the fan favorite BY FAR. The place would go nuts. I’m not just saying that ‘cuz I’m the stalker from East Meadow…that was a joke. It would be the biggest thing at the Colliseum since the Drive for Five. (that was for you hockey guys…)
And thank God for your stalking of Serra, GarRule.
This way no one brings up all of the creepy Couture shrine stuff in my house…
;)
Well we may jcohl if you were as vocal about it as GarRule is about his man crush on Serra
I guess I have to accept my role here on the Frenzy. Seems like everybody can’t stand him. I got your back, dude!