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The Iceman Featured in the LA Times |
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Written by Lance Pugmire of LATimes.com
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Thursday, 28 December 2006 |
Chuck Liddell has heard Tito Ortiz's explanations for losing their first fight, and he isn't buying any of them. "His
back was hurt, I poked him in the eye, we were friends … yeah," Liddell
said last week. "He's never had a loss where he didn't have an excuse
afterward, and he'll find some excuse this time too, after I knock him
out."
San Luis Obispo's Liddell, 37, carries a string of five consecutive knockouts or TKOs into their Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight title fight Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, dating to his second-round disposal of his former training partner Ortiz in April 2004.
Ortiz, 31, says the end of back pain that affected his performance in the first fight, along with improved physical conditioning, probably will result in "a five-round war," that he predicts will reward the younger man's energy.
Liddell, who counts two dominant showings against respected UFC veteran Randy Couture in his current knockout streak, scoffs at his rival's fight plan.
"First, he has to get me tired, but that would force him to come after me, and risk me hitting him," Liddell said. "He knows how hard I hit, and he doesn't like getting hit. If he truly comes after me, and we end up going at it, I don't see him surviving."
Wearing a mohawk, Fu Manchu mustache and a stone-faced expression, Liddell is the antithesis of Ortiz's charismatic personality and beach-boy charm. Ortiz is often seen in public with his girlfriend, former adult film actress Jenna Jameson. Liddell walked into last month's pay-per-view event in Sacramento alone.
"I do the majority of my talking in the ring," Liddell said. "I'll fight anyone anywhere. I don't dodge anyone."
Like Ortiz?
"He's very selective about his fights," Liddell said. "He doesn't like to fight. He wishes he didn't have to. He's in this for fame and money."
Liddell was raised in Santa Barbara. He attended San Marcos High, and, like Ortiz, he competed as a high school wrestler, producing top-five finishes in CIF Southern Section meets in 1987 and 1988. A decade later, he was in UFC, and eventually became a training partner to Ortiz, sometimes sleeping over at Ortiz's Huntington Beach home and training residences in Big Bear and Las Vegas.
"If you listen to him [Ortiz], you'd think he took me off the street," Liddell said. "I stayed at his home because he asked me to train with him."
Liddell said it was during those training sessions that he learned his fighting style frustrated Ortiz. He said when they stopped training together in 2002, it was an obvious aspiration to fight Ortiz.
"He's never had a good day against me," Liddell said.
Ortiz, who has landed some minor movie roles and boasts of making millions from his clothing line, contends Liddell was foolish to jump at a $150,000 payday in the 2004 fight when he could have "made it a multimillion-dollar thing."
"Liddell will end up only being known as a fighter," Ortiz said. "When he's finished, he'll only be doing things like training camps and teaching karate classes."
Liddell counters by saying he "trains with the same guys I did 15 years ago."
"How many longtime friends does [Ortiz] have?" Liddell asked. "He's a guy who burns bridges. That's his persona. I'm confident I'll beat him. I'm always confident. That's part of being a fighter."
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