On Tuesday afternoon in West Hollywood, California, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell partook in an open workout ahead of his polarizing trilogy fight with Tito Ortiz. Unfortunately for him, the ever outspoken Ortiz was in the building for this media event, and he did not keep quiet.
As Chuck Liddell worked through combinations on the focus mitts with his trainer Antonio McKee, Tito Ortiz could be heard criticizing him from the crowd. Ortiz’s main critique surrounded Liddell’s cardio, as he seemed to think Liddell looked tired early on his workout.
“That was only 30 seconds, you can’t get that tired that quick,” Ortiz yells toward the end of the video. “You guys are calling this a quick motherf***in’ night, I guarantee it.”
“That shit looks like junk… wow.”
The 48-year-old Chuck Liddell has not fought since June of 2010, when he was knocked out by Rich Franklin in what was supposed to be his final fight. In his next most recent fights, Liddell was knocked out by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Rashad Evans, both of whom went on to become UFC light heavyweight champions. Chuck Liddell, who holds wins over Wanderlei Silva, Ortiz (twice), Randy Couture (twice), Renato “Babalu” Sobral (twice), Alistair Overeem, Murilo Bustamante, Kevin Randleman and many others, is 21-8 overall.
The 43-year-old Tito Ortiz, meanwhile, has been active much more recently. His last fight occurred in January of 2017, when scored a first-round submission of Chael Sonnen in a bout that he claimed would be his last. In his next most recent fight, he was submitted by then Bellator light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary. This loss was preceded by consecutive wins over Alexander Shlemenko and Stephan Bonnar. Tito Ortiz, who has bested fighters like Ryan Bader, Ken Shamrock (three times), Evan Tanner, Wanderlei Silva, and Guy Mezger, is 19-12-1 overall.
Liddell and Ortiz have fought twice before. Liddell won both encounters by stoppage.
How do you think Chuck Liddell looks in this footage? Was Tito Ortiz right?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/14/2018.