Chuck Liddell is back. “The Iceman” is making a comeback to the cage after more than eight years away from the sport he helped make famous. Liddell is returning to fight against Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz on November 24 at the LA Forum in California under Golden Boy Promotions.
With the fight set, oddsmakers have pegged Ortiz as the -315 favorite with Liddell coming back at +245.
The History behind Chuck and Tito
This would be a trilogy bout for Liddell and Ortiz with The Iceman taking both of the first two contests by knockout. However, those two fights did take place in 2004 and 2006, an eternity in the life of an athlete.
Liddell has not been seen inside the cage since his career took a staggeringly quick fall – he went 1-5 in his last six fights with the three most recent losses all coming via brutal knockout. At the behest of UFC president Dana White, he retired and was given a supposed lifetime role within the company.
However, Liddell was fired in 2016 after WME-IMG purchased the organization. Ever since then, the rumblings that he would return to fight in a rival promotion have been circulating in the MMA Twitter-verse. Now, under the Golden Boy Promotions put on by Oscar De La Hoya, it is official that the 48-year-old Liddell will put the gloves on again to face his longtime rival, Ortiz.
Ortiz, 43, was last seen in Bellator in January of 2017 following a submission victory over Chael Sonnen. The Huntington Beach Bad Boy then retired in the ring but he has already returned once from a retirement to fight, so why not do it again?
As much as it pains me to say it, I give the edge to Ortiz in this fight that probably shouldn’t even happen. I was a big Liddell fan when he was in his prime, but the man is 48, hasn’t fought in eight years and lost five of his last six fights before retiring. Meanwhile, Ortiz has been more active, fighting nine times since Chuck retired, and has won three of his last four fights.
Prediction: Tito Ortiz (-315) via submission