Chuck Liddell Interview – UFC 97
Chuck Liddell is at a crossroads in his stellar MMA career. With three tough losses in his last four fights, Liddell is under scrutiny from fans, the honchos at the UFC and – for that matter – his own camp.
At 39, Liddell is still grinding it out way past the time when most fighters are making their way into their second careers. But this is Chuck Liddell, and he’s a different breed altogether.
Mike Straka: Dana White made some comments earlier last month saying that you have to show him something. What does he mean by that? And what do – what do you take his meaning to be?
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I love fighting. I get paid a lot of money to do what I love for a living. I don’t think that that takes much motivation past that, but I do still want – I do want to end up on top and with the title so…
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Chuck Liddell: I don’t know. You’d have to ask him what (he means by it), but I don’t know. I’m planning on coming up and performing like I normally do. And I’m coming out – planning on coming out and knocking him out. So hopefully that will be enough to keep him interested in me fighting.
Doug Jeffrey: Can you talk about the highs and lows of your career?
Chuck Liddell: You know honestly I’ve had some highs and lows. Obviously some of my big wins have been my highs and the lows obviously have been any of my losses. I mean I don’t take losses well. I mean the highs are obviously I’ve had some big wins. And lows are obviously my losses. I mean I’m not a big fan of losing, so.
Anthony Springer: Is there any pressure given the comments that came from Dana White to go out and put on a good performance this time around?
Chuck Liddell: No. I haven’t seen an reason to worry about – start worrying now about my next fight. I never have before. So I mean I’m going to go out there and fight this fight. I mean I’ve got a tough opponent in front of me and I’m getting ready for him. You know I’ll worry about what happens after. I’m going to worry about winning the fight and then worry about what I do after this fight after this fight.
Anthony Springer: Can you talk about your experiences at American Top Team and what prompted a move over there for training?
Chuck Liddell: (To me) it was a great experience when I as out there for a little bit. And then Howard Davis (was) with me for about 7 weeks or so out here in my training camp. So it’s been really good working with him. I think he’s helped my foot work and defense a lot. And I’m looking forward to showing some of the new stuff I’ve learned.
Beau Dure: Hello. A couple of years ago you were in a few videos and you were acting a little bit and I saw you were on MTV Cribs. Have you cut back on the number of appearances like that you’ve been making? And if so, was that by your choice?
Chuck Liddell: I cut back a little bit and yes, by my choice. I mean most (of the) stuff I do anyway is by whether or not it fits. If get something that’s available – that somebody wants me to do – if it fits into my schedule to train for a fight. So it just depends on what I’m doing too.
Beau Dure: So was there any effort made that you had that you wanted to stop doing that a little bit and focus a little bit more on the fighting side?
Chuck Liddell: Definitely, for training camp I extended my training camp as far as stopping the (appearances) and doing things a little bit longer, so. But none of those things – I usually – always have done those things out of time. It’s just I think people get confused when fights are coming up and a little something comes out right when the fight’s coming up. I mean a lot of times I filmed it 6 or 8 months ago. So it just happened to come out when the – close to the fight. While I was not doing something during the fight. I’m training for the fight.
Brian D’Souza: (Are you) still motivated at this stage of your career because it’s a bit in the twilight and (do) you still feel prepared and ready and (are you) going to keep fighting even after this fight if you win?
Chuck Liddell: What keeps me motivated? I love fighting. I get paid a lot of money to do what I love for a living. I don’t think that that takes much motivation past that, but I do still want – I do want to end up on top and with the title so…
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