"You’ve got to expect Chuck to take his boy’s back. That’s what he’s been doing. He has been coming out saying a lot of other stuff like he’d walk through my punches if he fought me and that he would beat me in his prime and all this type of stuff. I’m not going to sit here and insult Chuck — he’s a very, very loved person by the masses. I’m just going to keep my mouth shut, but, it’s like c’mon, Chuck, just knock it off. I respect you…. At the end of the day, if Chuck wants to come out of retirement, I welcome him to a super fight."
-- When he’s not road raging, beating a pedestrian with a crowbar, or kneeing a rhinoceros in the face, former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell, is inserting himself between Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira. Indeed, "Iceman" has been back in the spotlight all week, going to bat for his protege, Teixeira, ahead of his 205-pound title fight against division champion, Jones, at UFC 172 this weekend (Sat., April 26, 2014) at Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. Liddell, among other things, has suggested that he would have defeated "Bones" in his heyday, criticized him for forcing the cancellation of UFC 151 and predicted a decisive finish for Teixeira. Jones tried to take the high road when confronted about the chatter earlier this evening on "UFC Tonight," but then laid down the ultimate challenge for the 44-year-old UFC Executive Vice President of Business Development: Put up or shut up. And, even though the retired Liddell would probably be more than willing to fight him tomorrow, he’ll probably have to just "shut up" because a super fight against Jones would be anything but at this stage of their respective careers. Even company president Dana White — Liddell’s long-time good friend — is well aware of this reality.