Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell will get back into the cage for the third time later this month. Ortiz vs. Liddell will headline Golden Boy Promotions’ MMA event on November 24th. In the weeks leading up to the fight, Liddell has been posting videos of his training sessions on social media.
Many believe the 48-year-old is looking very sluggish in the videos, but Ortiz’s coach, Jason Parillo, believes the former 205-pound champion could be “playing possum.” Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, Parillo said he thinks Liddell could be trying to give off the false impression that he’s not doing too well heading into the fight (via Bloody Elbow):
“I know he puts out some of it – we see a little training footage and some of it looks a little hoax-y, in my opinion,” Parillo said. “Sometimes, I think he’s playing a little bit of possum, or maybe he’s going full board.
“Either way, Chuck’s a fighter. Not that he’s not an athletic man. He’s strong, but he’s a fighter. The guy’s got a fighter mentality, and he goes out and he tries to kick your ass. That’s the guy we’re getting ready for.”
With all that being said, Parillo said he and Ortiz are training for the best possible version of Chuck Liddell come November 24th:
“Do we think that he’s added some tricks and some tools to his bag of tricks? I don’t know,” he said. “How much can you really add? If there is such a thing as ring rust, which some people believe and some people don’t, my guess is he’s gonna feel a little bit of it.
“With the age, I don’t know how the skin and is gonna hold up and how (his chin) is gonna hold up, because I know that he’s been hurt quite a few times in his last couple of fights before his comeback, so we’ll see. We’re just training for the best Chuck Liddell that we’ve ever seen.”
What do you think about Ortiz’s comments regarding Liddell?
