Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz 3 Finalized for Nov. 24 in California
The trilogy between former UFC rivals Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz has been finalized for an upcoming Golden Boy promotion event on Nov. 24 at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Liddell announced the date and the location for the fight via an interview with Larry King on Wednesday.
“The L.A. Forum, November 24,” Liddell said. “I’m very excited about it. It’s going to be a good one.”
Liddell and Ortiz are partnering with Oscar De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions will be crossing over from boxing to mixed martial arts for the first time.
De La Hoya has teased his move over into MMA for several months and now he’s secured one of the greatest rivalries in history for the first fight he’ll promote.
Of course, Liddell will come into the fight just about a month shy of his 49th birthday and after retiring from the sport back in 2010 following three straight knockout losses.
In recent months, Liddell has been getting back into shape while making it clear that he intended to fight again with rumors circulating for months that perhaps he would end up as part of the Bellator MMA roster.
Instead, Liddell hashed out a deal with De La Hoya to return for a fight where he will serve as a partner on the back end of the pay-per-view sales, similar to what most high profile boxers receive in that sport.
According to Liddell, his move back into fighting was largely precipitated on this particular fight because he never seems to get tired of facing Ortiz.
“It kind of got started, he got me interested, he started mouthing off again like he tends to,” Liddell said about Ortiz. “I didn’t actually go out the way I wanted to. I wanted to get back into shape and see if I could fight again. I didn’t end my career on my own terms and this is my chance to do that.”
As for Ortiz, he is looking for revenge after two previous knockout losses to Liddell when they faced off inside the UFC Octagon in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
Ortiz is also coming out of retirement for this fight but he only walked away from the sport in early 2017 after he picked up a submission win over current Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinalist Chael Sonnen.
Ortiz went 3-1 in his final four fights before calling it a career but now the 43-year old legend will put on the gloves for at least one more trip into the cage as he looks to settle the score with Liddell once and for all.
As of now, the Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 card won’t have any direct competition from the UFC or Bellator on Nov. 24. The UFC has an event scheduled for that same day but the show takes place in China and will air on UFC Fight Pass early in the morning in the United States.
