Chuck Liddell: "Finally, It's On!"

[Oddessa]

Chuck Liddell: "Finally, It's On!" - 3/25/2004
by Michael DiSanto




On April 2nd, Chuck “the Iceman” Liddell will finally get the opportunity that has wanted for over 2 years. At UFC 47, Liddell will fight former teammate turned arch rival Tito Ortiz. At first, it was all about competition for Liddell. Ortiz was the long-standing light heavyweight champion, and Liddell had earned the right to fight for the sport’s highest honor after beating Kevin Randleman and Murilo Bustamante. But it was not to be, not yet anyway.

First, Zuffa asked Liddell to prove himself yet again against Vitor Belfort at UFC 37.5. No problem. The Iceman pulled out a decision victory against the Brazilian phenom to end all speculation as to who was the rightful challenger to Ortiz’s crown. Nevertheless, Liddell would have to wait yet again.

Next, Zuffa asked Liddell to step aside for the good of the sport and allow Ortiz and UFC legend Ken Shamrock settle a personal beef at UFC 40 in what would be the highest grossing fight in the UFC’s Zuffa-era. Liddell not only agreed to step aside, but agreed to risk his standing as the mandatory challenger by fighting the dangerous Renato “Babalu” Sobral.



(This kick turned the lights out for Babalu and reminded the world
that Chuck deserved a shot at UFC gold)

Not only did Liddell beat Sobral, but he beat him by brutal knockout. Immediately, Liddell screamed to the crowd that he wanted his belt. That’s when the world began to take note of Liddell’s frustration at having to wait at a shot at UFC gold. And that frustration would grow over the next several months as Ortiz held out for a new contract. Ortiz added to the frustration as he made it clear that he did not want to fight a friend, although Liddell claims that the two were never anything more than acquaintances. “He never called me to go see a movie, never called me to go to a barbecue,” Chuck explained.

Well, some things have happened since UFC 40. For starters, Ortiz is no longer the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Next, it is clear to everyone that Liddell and Ortiz are no longer friends or even cordial acquaintances. Accordingly, this match is no longer purely about competition. No, it’s about settling a grudge match between bitter rivals before stepping back into the Octagon to once again challenge for UFC gold.

And so on April 2nd, the Iceman will finally step into the Octagon to face Tito Ortiz. After more than two years in the making, as Liddell so eloquently puts it, “Finally, it’s on!”

InsideFighting: We’re about 10 days from the fight. What’s left for you in terms of training?
Chuck Liddell: I’m just trying to stay sharp mainly. I’ve done most of my work, so now it’s just about trying to stay sharp, keeping my weight down and keeping my conditioning going.



(Liddell (left) is sparring hard at The Pit in preparation for Ortiz)

IF: What’s your walking around weight right now?
Iceman: About 214 pounds.

IF: Do you normally cut about 10 pounds for your fights?
Iceman: Yes, 7-10 pounds - something like that.

IF: As we look back at your history with Tito Ortiz, you two used to be sparring partners, so one would think that this fight has already happened many, many times in training. Do those sparring sessions give either of you a mental edge going into the fight?
Iceman: It’s been a long time since we’ve sparred – it’s been a couple of years. You know, training is training. But he goes into the fight with it in the back of his mind that I used to beat him when we trained. And that’s going to stick with him. If the fight starts going badly for him, the troubles that he used to have in training are really going to jump out in his mind.



(Liddell owns a win over current UFC Light Heavyweight
Champion, Vitor Belfort (left))

IF: When I was at UFC 46 and watched the confrontation between you and Tito in the Octagon, you seemed very angry. Chuck, that is probably the most emotion that I’ve ever seen from you in a pre-fight weigh-in, staredown or any other pre-fight situation. Talk about your emotion going into this fight.
Iceman: A lot of it has to do with the fact that he’s been popping off for a long time. Look, I have no problem with people popping off because that’s part of the game. But if you’re going to pop off, be willing to step up and fight. And it took him a long time to step up. Then he starts saying that I was the one popping off against him and that he finally had to fight me because I was trashing his name. Hey, I didn’t trash his name. He trashed his own name by not fighting me. He was the first one to come up and start popping off about me. When he jumped in the Octagon after I fought Vitor [Belfort], he started popping off.

IF: Why do you think Tito finally agreed to take the fight against you?
Iceman: He needs [the fight] now. Before, he didn’t need to fight me because he had the title. He had no reason to fight me because he didn’t need the fight. This is the fight he should have taken; it’s the fight he was supposed to take. But he didn’t need to fight me back then. Now, he needs to fight me if he wants another shot at the title. So that’s why he’s taking the fight.

IF: Most of the time people try to separate emotion from their performance when they compete in boxing or MMA because emotion can lead to mistakes. Do you think emotion will play a role in the outcome of the fight with Ortiz on April 2nd?
Iceman: It will play more of a role for him than for me. He’s more of an emotional fighter than I am. I’m not a real emotional fighter. I’ll be pretty calm once I get into the Octagon, but I’m definitely going to try to hurt him.



(Liddell's right hand could be the
difference in the fight)

IF: When do you start to get hyped up for a fight? What’s going through your mind when you’re walking down the ramp to the Octagon?
Iceman: I’m ready to go when I’m walking down the ramp, but I stay pretty calm. I’m really focused and calm, but I’m ready to go.

IF: What are your big advantages over Tito?
Iceman: My biggest advantages would be my striking and my ability to stop his takedowns. Those two things are my biggest advantages.

IF: Tito told us that he was going to stand and strike with you. Do you believe him?
Iceman: No, not at all! He’s trying to convince me that he’s going to stand and strike with me. He might come out for a couple of seconds and try to get me to believe that he’s going to stand and strike with me. But he’s not planning on striking with me. His plan is to try and take me down and ground-and-pound me. If he does come out and try to stand with me, I’ll love it! If he wants to come out and stand, I’ll exchange punches with him. No problem!

IF: If you are able to successfully defend his first few takedown attempts, do you think that you will have a big advantage at that point because that will force him to stand and strike with you?
Iceman: Yes. I mean, he’s going to keep trying to take me down. But if I stop his first couple of takedown attempts, he’ll certainly start getting frustrated. I’ll be able to frustrate him and maybe get him to swing at me a little bit which gives me a chance to land one on him.



(When you strike with Liddell, things usually go badly)

IF: Tito has been the poster boy for the UFC for a number of years. Do you think you can go into Las Vegas and win a judges’ decision or do you have to stop him?
Iceman: I think I can win it if it goes to the judges, but that’s not the way I want to win it. I want to stop him in fight. I don’t want there to be any question that I beat him. I want to stop him.

IF: Chuck, is there any message that you want to send to Tito Ortiz? He’ll be reading this.
Iceman: Yeah. Tito, come out and punch through me! Give it a shot!

IF: In closing, do you have any message for your fans?
Iceman: Sure, thank you to all my fans for supporting me. I’m going out there [at UFC 47] to destroy Tito and then I want a shot at the title.

IF: Good luck on April 2nd and stay healthy. I’ll catch up with you in Vegas, Chuck.
Iceman: Okay, sounds good. Thank you.

[surfin joe]

Tito looks great on paper, but there must have been a reason why he avoided Chuck for so long. They must know better than we do.

Chuck is a live dog.

[hockeystl]

5Dimes :
TITO ORTIZ (UFC) -180
CHUCK LIDDELL (UFC) +150

Who else has a line up now?

[surfin joe]

last time I looked, sportsbook.com had chuck +160

[surfin joe]

Perhaps a better bet is Andre +130. I think he should be favored in that one. If it goes to the ground, he has a decided edge. If it stays up, Sylvia has a slight edge.

But MMA has been so f**kin random lately that it's hard to pull the trigger on much of anything anymore.

[surfin joe]

LMAO @ this pic of a young Tito. Him and Silva had the same barber back then

[AnotherBadBeat]

Thanks for the Article JOey , I'm Fukking Fired UP NOW !!!


Can't wait for for the Showdown !!!



abb

[hockeystl]

Originally posted by: surfin joe
LMAO @ this pic of a young Tito. Him and Silva had the same barber back then

Those pics were shown on the PPV promoting the PPV. It actually has some decent 'behind the scenes' info on Tito and Chuck. Enjoy [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[surfin joe]

hockey- thanks buddy. I appreciate it. [img]i/expressions/beer.gif[/img]