Reflecting on the rematch between Chuck and Randy, Hackleman said, "I was a lot more nervous than Chuck was...I was just hoping that everything was working, and Chuck would just stay on his game, and focus, and just not slip back at all." What concerned Hackleman the most going into the fight was, "His coming forward and getting Chuck against the cage, and slamming him. That was probably it."

Randy Couture was able to control Chuck Liddell, both standing and on the ground, in their first bout. John was asked what adjustments were made to ensure that didn't happen again. He stated, "The lateral movement was probably the biggest thing...Moving forward is great, and he does that well, but when he moved back he was moving straight back in a straight line, and there's only one place to go. When you move back in a straight line you're going to go right back against the cage. If you move back in a lateral movement it's much more difficult to get caught."

Straighter punches was another adjustment made. Hackleman commented, "There was still a place for the old looping left hook which, as you noticed, it actually set up the straight right a few times, but yeah I wanted those straight punches to come right down the pike."

Many have alleged that Liddell underestimated Couture in their first bout, but Hackleman disagreed. "Not at all. He has nothing but respect for Randy's skills...I'll give you he wasn't focused, but he didn't underestimate him at all. I mean I was there during the whole training. He was very focused. I mean he was not quite as focused because he had other things going on. He got an injury. There was other things. The whole build up thing with Chuck Liddell this, and that. I mean the whole thing was more built around Chuck, so it kind of took him out of his game a little bit when he had to be the, you know, just so much hoopla going into that fight. He wasn't as focused, but he didn't underestimate him." "It was just a whole mixture, a whole, you know everything put together. It just didn't work right that fight, but it wasn't one thing."

Liddell's popularity has skyrocketed since knocking out Tito Ortiz, appearing on The Ultimate Fighter reality show, and winning the UFC light heavyweight title from Couture. Stardom can change a man. John was asked if Chuck has changed at all since becoming champ. He answered, "No. Not a bit. He's just the same old Chuck. Chuck's is Chuck. He's probably the most most down to Earth guy ever. He'll be walking down the street and not only will he stop to sign every autograph and stop to talk to everyone that asks him. If there's a homeless guy on the side of the street, and he calls him over, he'll go over there and talk to him for an hour. Chuck's Chuck. He hasn't changed one bit."

Liddell will defend his UFC LHW title for the first time at UFC 54 against the man who handed him his first loss, Jeremy Horn. About Horn, "Pit Master" commented, "Jeremy Horn's, I mean even though he's fighting Chuck, I of course want Chuck to win, but to me Jeremy's, I would say he's the best fighter out there except for Chuck. He's definitely one of my favorites to watch. I mean whenever I watch him fight, I love to watch Jeremy fight. He's fricken unbelievable man. He ends up on his back, and you're thinking oh shit the guy's going to land some brutal elbows. Next thing you know the guy is out. He's just unbelievable."

Hackleman went on to say, "He fights every friggin week. He's like an old school boxer. You know? He shows up at these little out of the way venues. In these little smoke filled arenas. He just fights anyone anywhere, and beats everyone at the smaller shows. He's unbelievable man."

John's biggest concern is, "His submissions of course. That's his game, and that's that biggest fear I have about him, but it's a different Chuck now, and it's a bigger, stronger, more confident, harder hitting Chuck with better movement. He's been there, done that. A lot more experience, so I don't see Chuck losing this one, but it's definitely a fight he has to stay on his toes for." "I think he'll have a real hard time taking him down. If he does I don't think he'll be able to keep him down."

John Hackleman has several fighters to watch out for in the future. "Probably next up would be in skill and experience level coming up would be Antonio Banuelos, but he's 135 pounds, so he's, it's hard for us to get him recognized. You know? It's so hard to get him fights at 135. He was fighting 155 for a while, and he walks around at about 140 or 138, so he was fighting guys much bigger than him. He wasn't quite doing as well, but when we brought him down to 135 he's been undefeated, and I think he's explosive, great wrestler, great striker. His Jiu-Jitsu is coming, and if you guys have seen the last couple of WECs or Rumble on the Rocks, he's done really well in those shows, but like I said, at 135 it's hard to get him fights."

John continued, "Then we've got Von Flue, Jason Von Flue, "Cokeman." He's kind of a sleeper. I mean he gets in there and just kind of gets on his back, and the next thing you know you're asleep...Then I've got a couple of really good kick boxers. I've got Scott Lighty, Chuck's main sparring partner...He does well. He's getting better. He's had some problems. One thing is he's small for K-1. He walks around at 215, but he's getting a lot better."