Randy Couture Reveals Only Concern About Liddell vs. Ortiz III
Randy Couture reveals his only concern heading into the third fight between Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.
The two MMA legends are slated to meet for a third fight on November 24, 2018, inside The Forum in Inglewood, California. This show will air live on pay-per-view. More fights for the main and undercard of this show will be announced in the coming weeks.
Couture made it known in a recent interview that he has concerns about Liddell’s chances come fight night. It’s not about his age or even his chin, but rather it’s about his time off from fighting.
“I’m not too concerned about the age, honestly,” Couture said in a recent interview on The MMA Hour. “I fought right up until where Chuck’s at right now, at a high level. My only concern with that is that Chuck hasn’t been competing. Hasn’t been sparring, hasn’t done anything in the fight realm other than regular strength and conditioning for the last eight years, since he retired.”
Liddell and Ortiz have fought twice throughout their legendary careers, with “The Iceman” knocking out Ortiz at UFC 47 in 2004 and UFC 66 in 2006. Since that second fight, however, Liddell has lost five of his six bouts with four of those losses coming via stoppage.
“So that puts the pressure on him to get back up into fight shape, back up. Get the timing back to where we’re used to seeing Chuck have going into a fight. He had that style where that timing was very, very important.”
Couture also brought up the key with Liddell’s success was due to his timing but with years away from active competition and his age, it will come into question.
“It wasn’t that he was the biggest, strongest or best athlete. He had a very unique timing, to find you right on the end of one of those long levers. Make it a short night. Now, whether he still has that timing. That’s the question.”
Couture continued by bringing up how Ortiz has been more active than Liddell in recent years. He thinks it will be interesting to see how this fight plays out with two men having their own strengths and weaknesses.
“Tito has been way more active, had some big fights. Will he be able to go out and implement his game plan? Which has gotta be getting in Chuck’s face, finding a way to get Chuck on the ground and take some gas out of Chuck. Certainly not standing and trying to trade with Chuck. Find out if he does have that timing. I think it’s gonna be interesting.”
