Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight titleholder, Tito Ortiz, is not interested in turning back the clock in order to settle his longstanding beef with fellow UFC hall-of-famer Chuck Liddell.
Even though “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” believes he would win.
Ortiz, 42, is simply too old to go through another grueling training camp and is happy with the way he retired from mixed martial arts (MMA), which came on the heels of his submission victory over Chael Sonnen earlier this year.
From his conversation with Submission Radio:
“I just don’t plan on fighting. I don’t plan on people trying to force me to fight. I have to get a neck surgery. Why would I even think about fighting? Why would I even think about risking myself physically? I’m too old to be fighting. I’m 42 years old. I’m too old. I’m not a Randy Couture and I really don’t need the cash right now so I’d rather make money by other means. Being in the gym six days a week, six to eight hours a day is not really in my idea of working anymore. That’s behind me now. I think I’ve done what I need to do and yeah, I think I can beat Chuck but I don’t need to do that anymore.”
Ortiz was stopped by Liddell at UFC 47 and then again at UFC 66.
“The Iceman” has been making headlines in recent weeks after getting fired by UFC, which is now operating under new management and eliminating some of the “knuckleheads” who were inflating overhead.
That gives Liddell, 47, the freedom to compete elsewhere.
While Scott Coker and Co. are interested in the aging slugger, it’s more for the value in his name and less for his desire to compete for Bellator MMA. Then again, anything can (and usually does) happen in this crazy business.
Stay tuned.
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