Chuck Liddell responds to criticisms of training footage

On November 24, former UFC light heavyweight champs Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will step into the cage together for a third time. In the buildup to this fight, we’ve seen snippets of both men’s preparations. Unfortunately, the footage we’ve seen of the 48-year-old Liddell’s training has generated quite a bit of controversy.

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In the eyes of many fans and commenters, Chuck Liddell looks like a shell of his former self in this footage. Liddell has heard these criticisms, and has a simple response.

“They put out a video of me warming up my legs right when I got to the gym,” he said at his open workout in West Hollywood on Tuesday (transcript via MMAjunkie). “I don’t know why they would – out of all the video they took – why they would choose to put that out, I have no idea. I challenge anyone talking trash about it to take one of those kicks I was throwing anyway. They’re not that soft. I was just warming up my legs the way I like to do it. I was just warming up my legs, so it is what it is.”

Whatever the case, Chuck Liddell really doesn’t care what people think. He maintains that he’s not doing this for praise or attention or even money. He’s doing it because he loves it.

“There’s nothing that I can do that I like better than this,” He said. “I still make good money. I saved a lot of money. I’ve still got a lot of my money. I’m doing just fine. But there’s nothing I enjoy more than being in the ring and fighting. This came up, and I jumped at it, I took a shot at it. I’m so happy I did because I haven’t been this alive in years.”

How do you think Chuck Liddell will look when he steps into the cage with Tito Ortiz on November 24?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/14/2018.