Chuck Liddell all the time most well-liked dealing with his enterprise contained in the cage.
The UFC Corridor of Famer earned a status as one of many nastiest knockout artists within the historical past of the game, however he by no means actually discovered the necessity to settle any beefs with previous rivals in a public setting. After sitting just some ft away from watching Sean Strickland launch himself at Dricus du Plessis at UFC 296, the previous gentle heavyweight champion recounted the closest he got here to a avenue combat whereas he was nonetheless in the course of his combat profession.
To precisely no one’s shock, Liddell’s grudge was in opposition to Tito Ortiz after the all the time outspoken “Huntington Seashore Dangerous Boy” made some ill-fated feedback throughout a radio interview whereas selling considered one of his fights.
“Tito, when he was combating Vitor Belfort, was doing a radio interview in San Diego and stated, ‘I don’t date white trash b****** like Chuck,’” Liddell relayed on the Street Fight podcast. “A bunch of men referred to as me up they usually’re like, ‘What’s up with this?’ So I wasn’t actual proud of him.”
Liddell stated he attended the cardboard the place Ortiz defeated Belfort at UFC 51. The 2 longtime rivals have been then slated to seem at a post-fight get together, the place a run-in between them was nearly inevitable.
The unhealthy blood between the UFC legends was so palpable that it regarded as if a full on brawl would possibly get away between the fighters and their mates. So, in an effort to maintain the peace, Liddell revealed that he was approached about settling his grudge in opposition to Ortiz with a dialog fairly than letting his fists go flying.
That’s when Liddell says he laid down an ultimatum earlier than Ortiz, particularly when it got here to any dialog concerning his private relationships.
“There’s an afterparty and John Huntington was selling it, a good friend of ours,” Liddell defined. “He comes as much as me and he’s like, ‘Hey bro, you’ve acquired to squash these items with Tito, as a result of your guys are going to combat his guys. I don’t want any hassle in right here. I don’t want any issues. Please squash this.’ I stated, ‘Yeah, no drawback.’ I went over, they acquired Tito to come back over, and really Vin Diesel was there too, he was negotiating I suppose. He got here up and was attempting to get us to speak and be cool.
“I’m like, ‘Tito, first off, that is my girlfriend — apologize. Second, you ever discuss my household and mates on a radio interview once more, I do know the place you reside and I’ll come beat you in your f****** lounge. You perceive that?’”
Previous to their heated rivalry, Liddell counted Ortiz as a coaching companion and good friend, which meant they knew one another fairly properly. In different phrases, Ortiz completely understood that Liddell was severe whereas laying down his problem.
In fact, Liddell stated Ortiz’s clarification about the entire state of affairs was additionally fairly dumb, however that’s a dialog for a distinct day.
“[Tito said,] ‘No man, I acquired it, I’m sorry, I wasn’t speaking about her, I used to be speaking about Juliette Lewis,’” Liddell stated. “Us Journal had stated I used to be courting Juliette Lewis for some cause. I’m like, ‘She’s not white trash, bro. She performs characters which can be in films, fool.’
“I stated, ‘OK, we’re cool, I’m not going to trigger any hassle.’ He knew from once we educated earlier than, we educated collectively, he heard tales about me — I’m severe.”
That incident didn’t result in an outside-the-cage altercation, but it surely actually didn’t settle the lengthy simmering rivalry between them. They met for the second time within the UFC lower than two years later, with Liddell scoring a third-round knockout over Ortiz to defend his gentle heavyweight title for the fourth consecutive time.
