Michael Bisping: Chuck Liddell Could Go To Bellator After Losing UFC Job
UFC Hall of Famer and former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell has recently hinted at returning to competition after being retired for years. With rumors of Liddell coming out of retirement, there has been a bit of a public feud between Liddell and Tito Ortiz on social media. However, Ortiz has since apologized.
UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping claims that he has heard that Liddell is unhappy and “annoyed” with the UFC for firing him from his post-retirement job. With Liddell being upset, it could lead to him heading over to Bellator MMA to compete. The UFC middleweight champion did make sure to note that it was just something he “heard.”
“I’m in the circle, where people tell me things,” Bisping said on his Believe You Me podcast (transcript courtesy of Bloody Elbow. “This is me putting out a disclaimer, if they hear me saying this, I can say ‘I said it was third hand information’, when really it might not be third hand information. Somebody at the weekend told me that Chuck Liddell is really pissed off, because he had a pretty sweet deal with the UFC when he left this job. He was an ambassador for the UFC. I believe he was on $1 million a year, that’s the number I heard.
“It was great that the UFC was doing that, but now, of course, new UFC owners came in,” Bisping said. “I heard that Chuck was really pissed off, so that’s why he’s possibly going over to Bellator.”
Bisping also gave his opinion about a possible return for “The Iceman.”
“Can he compete? Should he come back? The answer is no. Can he compete, and should he fight against Tito Ortiz? The answer is probably yes.”
The idea of Liddell coming out of retirement age 47 could be an issue, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion could be pulled out of retirement if the money and opponent are right.
