48-year old MMA legend Chuck Liddell made his return to the octagon over the weekend for a trilogy fight against Tito Ortiz as part of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy MMA. The result was ugly, as Ortiz KO'd Liddell in the first round, marking his first victory against "The Iceman."
Entering Saturday's main event, Liddell hadn't fought in eight years, and had been knocked out in each of his three previous fights. Needless to say, critics were disappointed that Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy MMA went ahead with the trilogy fight in the first place.
(Liddell x Ortiz: Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Among those who have spoken out against Liddell v Ortiz III is none other than UFC President Dana White. Never one to bite his tongue, White went off on "cokehead" Oscar De La Hoya during an appearance on the "UFC Unfiltered" podcast on Tuesday.
White's comments (H/T TMZ):
"I love Chuck Liddell and I don’t ever want to bad mouth Chuck Liddell,” White said.
"People even think I’m remotely bad mouthing Chuck Liddell, but the reality is -- first of all, I heard last week the cokehead ‘Oscar De La Weirdo’ is talking sh*t that I don’t have any place to tell guys when to retire."
"First of all, it’s called ‘friendship’ you f*cking cokehead."
"I’ve been friends with Chuck Liddell for 20 years and the reality is that Chuck Liddell retired when he should have retired. Eight, nine years ago, however long it was. And, Chuck Liddell’s almost 50-years-old and has no business fighting anymore."
"The fact that the state of California even let that fight happen is disgusting. Disgusting."
He continued ... "Chuck Liddell has an incredible legacy. He’s a huge superstar in this sport, so of course as a friend, anybody who claims to be a friend of Chuck Liddell and was anywhere near this fight is full of sh*t. They’re not a friend of Chuck Liddell. To let him go in and fight this fight is terrible."
Dana also added the following for good measure, "I hope someone talks De La Hoya into fighting again, and I hope the State of California makes the fight, and I hope he gets knocked out just like Chuck Liddell did. In the first round. The cokehead nutball."