Chuck Liddell may have been brutally knocked out by his bitter rival Tito Ortiz in the first round of their trilogy fight this past weekend, but that doesn’t neccessarily mean the 48-year-old is willing to call time on his career just yet.
“I don’t want to think about that right now,” Liddell said at the post-fight press conference when asked about fighting again. “I mean, I’m not in the right state of mind to really talk about whether or not I’m done or not. But I felt good out there and I had fun, so we’ll see.”
Perhaps in the cold light of day Liddell will think differently as truth be told he looked a shadow of his former self on Saturday night, but for now he’s still not completely given up on the idea of stepping into the cage again.
“I loved being in there. You’ve got to understand, I love fighting. I don’t do this for money. I never did this for money or fame. That’s not why I started. I did this because I love being out there, I love fighting, so I was at home in there. I was ready to go. I wish I’d done a few things different, obviously, but it happens.
“I was kinda gonna slow play him, just make sure he didn’t get any confidence, get a cheap takedown, but I should’ve fought the way I normally do. I don’t care if you take me down, I’ll get back up. And I should’ve came at him with a fast pace. I was kinda back and forth between hanging back and moving fast. I went with the ‘hang back,’ kinda get it going and figure out what he’s doing, and I should’ve gone after him fast. But then again, would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. Would it have changed the outcome? Who knows, so whatever.”
Despite suffering another tough KO, Liddell said he still felt ok after the fight though.
“I feel great right now. I mean, I’m fine. I don’t feel bad. I don’t think it was a bad knockout. I was able to answer all of the questions in the corner right away when they came up and asked me, ‘Where do you live? Where are we?’ All of the questions, I was able to answer them all right away, so I’m fine.”
And even if he doesn’t fight again, Liddell is now convinced that he wants to stay more involved in the fight game going forward.
“The one takeaway I have from this is that I will definitely be in a training camp again. I don’t know if it’ll be for me or for someone else, but I miss being in the gym and getting ready for a fight, or getting someone else ready for a fight. So I will now be more involved in training guys — at least training guys if not fighting, but for sure training guys.”
