Chuck Liddell has broken down a fantasy fight between him and Jon Jones.
‘The Iceman’ became one of the UFC’s first mainstream stars during his run as the promotion’s light heavyweight champion between 2005 and 2007.
Over 14 years since his initial retirement, Liddell remains among the greatest 205lbs fighters of all time, but Jon Jones has established himself as the very best.
‘Bones’ won Liddell’s old belt in 2011 and since then he’s beaten every man he’s stepped inside the Octagon with, including Ciryl Gane, who he tapped out in his heavyweight debut in March 2023.
Chuck Liddell fancies his chances against Jon Jones
The only blemish on Jones’ record is a controversial disqualification defeat against Matt Hammill, who he hit with the 12-6 elbow that will become legal on November 1.
Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, Lyoto Machida, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, and Vitor Belfort are just some of the legendary fighters who have fallen short against Jones during his iconic 27-1 (1NC) run in MMA.
Jones even out-grappled Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier during their bitter two-fight series.
Still, Liddell fancies his chances in a prime vs prime fight with Jones.
The 54-year-old is extremely confident that Dana White’s favorite fighter wouldn’t have been able to take him down, meaning he would have the chance to land big bombs on the feet.
“I would’ve been a bad matchup for him,” Liddell said on The JAXXON Podcast.
“I’m probably one of the few guys where he’d have a hard time dictating where I fought him. He would’ve had to fight me standing up, he couldn’t outwrestle me, he couldn’t take me down.
“Jon Jones, no, he couldn’t take me down, he would’ve had to strike with me.”
Liddell believes he would’ve been able to catch Jones with a big punch because the UFC Hall of Famer would have been caught off guard by his surprisingly long reach.
The retired fighter’s coach underreported Liddell’s reach to the UFC to give him a competitive advantage in the Octagon.
He added: “And I’m a longer than people think. I’m 79.5[inches] with my wingspan. John [Hackleman] put 76 down because he didn’t want people thinking I was that long.
“John was always weird that way. If you look at the pre-fight things when the UFC would come, he’d have me fight southpaw. I’d spar southpaw and do mitts southpaw because he didn’t want people to see anything we’d put in for that fight. sparring.”
Chuck Liddell offers his thoughts on Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson is one of the most controversial fights of all time, but despite fan concern, it is set to go ahead at the AT&T Stadium in Texas on November 16.
Most people think Tyson could get seriously hurt because he’s 58 years old and fighting professionally for the first time since 2005 against a man more than three decades his junior.
Liddell believes there could be an upset in the boxing’s legends favor.
He asked: “Is it a real fight? I don’t know. If it’s a real fight, that’s a dangerous fight.
“Mike still hits hard. It’s the last thing you lose, and Paul is a kind of a get-in-there-and-exchange guy. It’s not like he’s outpointing you, he likes to get in there and bang a little bit.
“It’s also eight, two-minute rounds. Two minutes is a sprint, but it plays better for your age than a three-minute round.”