mma / News

Chuck Liddell Expects Tito Ortiz to Be a ‘Cakewalk’ At Golden Boy MMA Event

November 20, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Chuck Liddell Tito Ortiz Liddell vs. Ortiz

Chuck Liddell spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of his fight with Tito Ortiz at Golden Boy MMA’s inaugural event. Highlights are below:

On fighting on the Golden Boy MMA card: “It was taking a gamble. It wasn’t a big upfront (paycheck). It’s taking a gamble that you’ll be successful, but it’s also a big home run if you win.”

On why he took the fight: “I had offers everywhere. A lot bigger guarantees to fight anybody I wanted to pick. I could pick anybody. They didn’t care. The name, whoever I fought, they didn’t care. But I chose this over that because I think it’s a fight my fans want, and I think for me, it’s a closest thing to a tuneup fight that’s got a name to it that there is.”

On his expectation for the fight: “I expect it to be a cakewalk. He’s hoping that after 12 years, I’ve slowed down so much that he can actually beat me. That’s kind of what he’s said. He’s like, ‘Chuck’s over the hill. He’s slow now.’ So, I’m going to beat him. I mean, basically, he’s saying he can’t beat me if I’m fast, and I’m still able to do things. The sad thing is, if he’s even convinced himself, which I don’t think he has, that he’s going to beat me, about 30 seconds into the fight, I can still stop his shot, I still hit really, really hard, and I’m still pretty fast. And he’s going to figure that out about a minute in and start looking for a way out.”