Chuck Liddell is not entertained by Jon Jones
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell and former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones have battled back and forth in a series of interviews and social media posts over the last few weeks with no real indication on what started the beef between the two fighters.
Liddell had stated recently that he believes he would have beaten Jones in his prime, which then prompted a response from the No. 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world that maybe they could have found out if The Iceman had fought smarter and saved his chin.
FOX Sports caught up with Liddell ahead of UFC 196 last weekend to get his take on Jones after this latest dust-up, and what prompted it in the first place.
"I didn't say anything bad about him. I wouldn't be mad if he said he could beat me in a fictional fight. That's not going to bother me," Liddell said. "If you ask me, I'm going to knock him out. Styles make fights. I wouldn't have a problem hitting him and sooner or later he would go down. He doesn't hit hard enough to stop me and he's not going to out wrestle me. Sorry."
As much as he believes that he would have bested Jones if they ever actually met in the Octagon, Liddell's bigger issue with the longest reigning light heavyweight champion boils down to the way he fights in the Octagon.
Liddell knows Jones possesses an incredible amount of talent — he just doesn't enjoy watching him perform.
Most notably, Liddell is frustrated that Jones only does just enough to get by on the judges' scorecards, when he could be dominating and finishing his opponents.
"He's a great fighter. It's like (Floyd) Mayweather, he's a phenomenal fighter. I don't like watching him. I don't want to watch a guy out point a guy just enough to win and cruise," Liddell explained. "I don't want a guy who pulls guard at the end of the fight with 20 seconds left that he's won every round in because he's worried about getting knocked out in the last 20 seconds. That's not my idea of a champion.
"I don't like that style. He has great talent and I'd love to see him go after people and try to do what I know he can do, but he's chooses to play it safe. If you choose to play it safe, I'm not really that entertained by watching you."
Liddell says it's nothing personal against Jones, because he feels the same way about other iconic fighters with similar MMA fighting styles.
"If that's the way you fight and you're the best in the world then you should be champion. Whatever your style of fighting, if you're winning by the rules that are set by everybody, you should be champion. I'm not mad at him for fighting that way. I understand it," Liddell said. "I talk about Georges St-Pierre the same way.
"As a coach, as a manager, I get it. I understand what he's doing. As a fan, not so much, that's not what I want to see but to each his own."
The same rules also apply to someone like Chael Sonnen, who gained a huge amount of notoriety trash-talking his opponents into the ground throughout the latter half of his UFC career. But as far as actually watching him perform, the former light heavyweight champion just tuned out.
"People love (Chael) Sonnen for his trash talking, but he's a boring fighter," Liddell said. "I like the guy. I know it's a game for him, it's a thing he does and he does a great job but some guys really love that and they don't care that he's a boring fighter, they just like that he talks trash really well."
Fighting preferences aside, the good news is that it appears Liddell and Jones had a chance to catch up during UFC 196 weekend and settle whatever differences they had.
Though Jones is obviously more focus on regaining his UFC light heavyweight title — a chance he'll have April 23 when he meets Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 197 in Las Vegas.
