Dana White: ‘There Is No Need for Chuck Liddell to Fight’ Again
As each day passes, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell appears one step closer to a comeback.
Last week, Liddell met with Golden Boy founder Oscar De La Hoya as the two began teasing the launch of a new mixed martial arts promotion that would feature the former UFC light heavyweight champion in his return to the sport.
Liddell turned 48 this past December and hasn’t fought since 2010 but he’s been teasing a comeback for several months. On Tuesday, TMZ reported that De La Hoya is finalizing contracts that will seal the deal for Liddell’s return to the cage.
UFC president Dana White was asked for his opinion on the matter considering his longstanding history with Liddell as he was his former manager as well as promoter not to mention a tumultuous history with De La Hoya in recent months.
White says he would actually like to see De La Hoya and Liddell team up to launch their own promotion but when it comes to “The Iceman” stepping back into the Octagon, that’s where he draws the line.
“It is funny but I get it. Everybody sees what’s going on and everybody wants a piece and I hope that’s the case. What I do hope in this whole thing, I hope he is partnering up with Chuck Liddell and they’re going to be partners other than having Chuck Liddell come in and fight. If it’s he’s partnering up with Chuck Liddell and they’re going to get into the MMA business, nothing would make me happier. That’s awesome. I’d love to hear that’s true for Chuck,” White said on the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast.
“If he plans on kicking off his MMA program with Chuck fighting, that will not be good. It would really, really bum me out. Chuck’s almost 50 years old. That guy doesn’t need to be fighting.”
White played a part in Liddell retiring from the sport back in 2010 after he suffered a third consecutive loss in a row — all by knockout — with his last win coming in 2007 in a three round war with Wanderlei Silva. Liddell closed his career by going 1-5 over his last six fights with four of those defeats coming by way of knockout or TKO.
Add to that, Liddell has now been out of action for eight years and while he’s always kept training to keep his body in shape, it seems like a long shot that a return to the cage would end well for him.
Then again De La Hoya is interested in booking Liddell in a trilogy fight against fellow UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz, who he’s already previously defeated on two separate occasions. Of course, Ortiz has been far more active with his last win coming in 2017 when he submitted Chael Sonnen in Bellator.
Whether it’s that fight or another one, White prefers to never see Liddell fight again versus taking the risk of another knockout by stepping back into the cage at 48 years of age.
“I care about the guy very much. He hasn’t won a fight since 2007. His last three fights he was viciously knocked out,” White said. “I think he lost five of his last six. That was 10 years ago.
“There is no need for Chuck Liddell to fight so hopefully it’s a partnership.”
